The Panther and The Rose
by Difference-Equals-Normal
Summary: Briar Rose Stark is quiet, painfully shy, and not a hero like her brother. But when the super villains are set free, and the world needs heroes, Briar decideds to go beyond her shell and discover herself. But with danger at every turn, the real people she can count on come out. Especially a certain mysterious super-hero, calling himself the Black Panther.
1. Briar Rose

Hi, everyone! Yes, I know, it's all shocking: you haven't heard from me in almost a year (aside from a post on my homepage, but who really reads those things?) and I've brought out a new story for you to enjoy...hopefully.

Anyways, I won't take up to much of your time, other than giving out my new disclaimer (squeals!) New disclaimer, how cool?! Ahem!

The Management of Chaotic Inc. wished to adivses readers that the creater of this story does NOT own the rights to Marvel or any of its properties, she is only responsibly for her original characters and the occasional plot story. However, if she did own the rights to Marvel, she would tell them writers to create the 3rd season of EMH and finish all the plot bunnies they started. She is not happy they ended it they way the did.

* * *

The Rose

_Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep. Beep-_Thump!

"Ok I'm up." I grumbled, my outstretched hand resting on top of my alarm clock. The rest of my body was underneath a huge mountain that was my bed sheet and two very worn comforters that did little to combat the cold in my bedroom. I really didn't want to get up this morning. There wasn't a force out there that could get me up from my only-just-gotten-warm bed and into the world.

But I did anyway.

I pulled my hand from the clock as I let my body roll out of my bed, landing with an ungraceful thud that jerked me into semi-consciousness. Staggering to my feet, I managed to get into the bath room for a shower. After pulling my pyjamas off and stepping under the spray, I rocketed into full consciousness when I realized that the hot water service was broken (again) and was more colder than my room.

Rushing to get clean and out of the shower, I vigorously rubbed dry with my fluffiest towel, the sounds of early morning traffic rumbling through the window. Once some blood was circulating through my body, I grabbed clean undergarments from my drawers and put them on, slipping a pair of faded baby blue jeans. Thick socks went on my feet, followed by my sturdiest pair of hiking boots.

I rummaged my closet for something clean, and hopefully warm, I finally located my two favourite shirts. The first to go on was my self-made t-shirt with long sleeves. The shirt part was a black small v-neck, with a red stripe along the edges of the neck, arms and hem. The long sleeves were black and white stripped, the ends reaching to my knuckles. Holes in the sides were necessary for my thumbs. Over the top was a grey singlet, keeping the warmth in a little.

Once dressed, I went into the kitchen for some breakfast, but if the hot water service was broken, then chances are the most power in the building was dead, too. All this made me pause to think about my apartment, although I guess the proper name would be a 'shoebox'. It was small, the kitchen and tiny living room practically the same room, and the door leading to my bedroom was paper thin. It didn't help that the building itself was considerably smaller than its neighbours, meaning the sun didn't warm in properly until sunset.

Pulling out of my thoughts, I went to make myself something for breakfast when I heard Beethoven's Fifth playing from within my crappy two seater couch. Why I always left it on the couch was beyond me, but it did help to find it before whoever rang hung up. Pulling it out from the cushions though, I grimaced when I saw who was calling. _:Well, too late now.:_ I told myself, pressing the green button and raising the device to my ear. "Morning, Tony." I greeted warmly.

"_And a lovely morning to you too, sis."_ Came the very cheerful reply, _"Care for breakfast at the usual place?"_ My brother Tony has always, as far as I've known, tried to get me to eat out in public. Not that I had problems with it, it's just that, well...

Being out with a brother was one thing; but when your older brother is Tony Stark, Director of Stark Industries and the superhero Iron Man, it put a serious dampener on things.

The temptation to say 'no, thanks' was big, but then I reminded myself that I probably had no power at all last night, so any food was probably rotten.

"Sure. I'll meet you there in 15 minutes." I agreed.

_Ok, then. Ta-ta, lil' sis."_ He teased playfully before hanging up.

I ducked into my tiny bedroom to retrieve my skateboard from underneath the single bed, grabbing my backpack from beside the couch and keys from the bench before walking out the front door and locking up. Though I wasn't sure why: the front door was just as paper thin as the bedroom door, but I guess it added a sense of security.

It wasn't like I was important enough to kidnap.

#####

Sitting in our usual booth, I tried to focus more on my food than the fact people were gawking as us from a couple of seats over. Well, not really 'us', but more so at my brother. But Tony either seemed not to notice them or he did but was doing a better job at ignoring them. In an effort to follow his page, I turned my thoughts onto the diner.

A quaint small building with an interior that strongly resembled the 60's or some era there about. The staff were always cheerful no matter what, and they always had time to lend a sympathetic ear whenever someone needed it. They also had the best breakfast menu in New York, as well. Normally, one would think that a place like this would be a target for anything bad, but a little known fact to certain people: this also happened to be the favourite after-hours hangout for S.H.E.I.L.D. agents, and trust me S.H.E.I.L.D. is not something you should mess with.

You could be asking yourself how Tony Stark's sister knows about S.H.I.E.L.D. and how agents came here. Easy; I was friends with Director Fury and several top-ranking agents. Well, ok, maybe not exactly friends with the Director personally; more like he helped me get out of a few tight spots over the last 5 years, especially a few weeks ago when things turned a really terrifying shade of scary dangerous.

I pulled out of my thoughts when a waitress approached with our order of pancakes. After placing them in front of us and giving Tony a sly wink, she disappeared leaving us in relative peace. The pancakes here were Tony's favourite, going by the way he attacked them. I just ate mine, trying not to gag at Tony. Although, to be really honest, I haven't had much of appetite lately, which was giving people close to me some concern, especially when they knew how much I liked me food.

Halfway through our meal, Tony started a conversation about his work at S.I., his work as Iron Man and the new suits he was thinking about creating. I put my two cents worth in occasionally, but otherwise I nodded and hummed in agreement while trying to get through my meal. It didn't help that I could feel Tony—and a few other people—discreetly looking at me as I did. I felt bad that I had people worrying about me, but sometimes I just couldn't help but...well, help be myself.

#####

Tony had to leave not long into the meal: something a giant robot in Chicago. Paying for our meals, he pressed a kiss to my forehead before disappearing out the door. I was just about ready to follow suit when a pair of eyes, belonging to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, looked at me from the next booth over, with a clear look that said 'sit'. My sheepishly lowered my head and continued to eat my meal.

When I finished enough of it to appease the eyes watching me, the owner decided to join e a the booth, a cheeky glint in his cocky smile. "So, Starky, how's life going?" Hawkeye asked, affectionately using the pet name he gave me.

Hawkeye, or Clint Barton, was a good friend of mine. More to the point, he was one of the agents sent by Fury to help me out of a problem not that long ago, when things got scary for me. Plus, he was a nice guy to be around: he was always trying to make me laugh about anything, and most of the time he succeeded.

Though, those moments were becoming more and more rare lately, much to his chagrin.

We talked a while longer, mostly about some ideas for inventions I had; I found it refreshing to talk to Hawkeye about my work. Don't get me wrong: it's nice to geek out with Tony, but sometimes talking to someone who wasn't a technology nut was an enlightening moment.

"So how's life in the shoebox?" He finally asked, getting to what he probably wanted to talk to me about.

"Well...the same as ever, I guess." I replied softly, wrapping my hands around the cup of tea I had ordered, "The hot water service is out...again." The look I was getting from Hawkeye made me wish I could crawl into a hole: he never liked idea the idea of me living by myself, especially in an apartment with a bad water service, shoddy electricity, and all the perfect requirements for someone to kidnap me, or rob me. Tony and Director Fury were of the same mind.

"So...?" Hawkeye asked slowly, "Why aren't you packing boxes? Or asking me and Quatermaine to help you move said boxes?"

Ugh, this topic again.

"I told you, Clint." I gushed out a sigh, "I don't want to be a burden on anyone, especially when everyone does more than enough for me." That and I didn't want to paint a bigger target on Tony's back than he needed. I may not be known in the newspapers or media outlets, but certain underworld super villains knew about me, and that alone was a disturbing thought.

Clint must've seen what I was thinking and reached his hand to gently rest on top of mine, his face holding that look: the sort of sad look where he sort of knew and understood my problem, but wished that I got over it.

I sometimes wished that myself.

#####

After catching up with Hawkeye, and promising to see each other again soon, I left the diner and headed back to my apartment. Holding my skateboard under my arm, I walked past an electronic store, when a group of children gathered around watching something. All the TV screens were displaying the same movie: Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Despite being 19 years old, I was drawn to the movie.

Cliché as it is, I often wish that my life were more like hers: the 3 good fairies, animal friends, loving parents. But mostly? I just wanted a Prince Philip of my own, or even having just a guy look at me and see nothing else but wonder and adoration, to dance with me whenever someone pressed 'play' on an internal soundtrack, but more importantly; a guy to love me and treat me like a princess, and never once make me feel or let me feel bad, put down or like I was nothing.

Barely holding back a snort of disdain, I pulled away from the TV screens and made my way back home. _:Face it, girl.:_ I told myself as I opened my front door, _:the only thing you have in common with Sleeping Beauty is the name the fairies gave her.:_

Yeah, that was me; Briar Rose Stark, the not worldly known sister of Tony Stark.

And hopelessly looking for a prince to sweep her off her feet.

* * *

So... what do you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Not really sure? Whatever your opinion, you may express it in a review, or favourite story or what not...however, reviews that are deemed just plain mean, nasty, and determined to undermine the author will not be tolerated, and will face the fury of the Hulk.

Till next time, my friends!


	2. Breakout

Yes, yes, I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted the first chapter, but things have been very crazy over here.

Ok, so first up there will be SPOILERS in this chapter for two reasons. Reason number 1: I plan to redo my Alenka and Logan story. Not a whole lot, just tidy up the plot holes I left, beef up her backstory a bit more and explain her powers better. Reason number 2: I also plan to create a Snow White story, hence the reference to Fantasia, but which story she'll be in? Ah, I let you guys squirm over that one.

Well, that's pretty much it. Reviews, favourites and follows and greatly appreciated, and if you guys read and Wolverine story and found the request for art, you can do that as well, just give credit where it is due and to the right people.

Enjoy!

* * *

Breakout.

One would think that after a night full of work, the universal forces would be forgiving if someone wanted to do nothing but sleep in a nice, comfy, warm bed, and not be needed by anyone. Sounds like a reasonable trade off, right?

No such luck for me.

After getting home yesterday, it wasn't too long before the building manager knocked on my door and asked if I could do something about the lack of power in the building, as well as the hot water service. Normally, that'd be a job for someone more qualified than me, but when you're a 5'3'' softly spoken person talking to a 5' 10'' behemoth of a bipedal slug...you see who winds that conversation. Though to be honest, I really didn't mind working on the old units; it feels therapeutic.

Only this time, the units that controlled the power to the entire building were so badly degraded that it took a few solid hours to get it to the point where I could even begin to fix them. The manager wasn't going to be happy about that. Next was the hot water service...mind you, when I found a pack of rats and no water in the tank, I decided to leave that for another time, and for someone else.

Then, of course, when the power units were fixed, I realized that I also had to go through each room, floor by floor, to make sure that power was working. Luckily the manager was kind enough to handle that part, and make a list of the rooms without power for me.

Finally, my work was done for the night...err, morning, to be precise.

It just touched one in the morning when I finally got back to my apartment and headed to bed. I was contemplating another cold shower, but balked. Even though the hot and cold water ran through different tanks and units, the memory of the rat pack sent unpleasant chills down my spine. So I settled for brushing my teeth with bottled water, changing into my pyjamas and crawling into my cold bed...and tossed and turned for a long time before finally getting 'comfortable' at 4 in the morning, though by now the traffic was starting to pick up again.

Suffice to say, no sleep and no decent food made a cranky Briar Rose. Add to it the fact that yesterday I came to the conclusion that I was never going to find my Prince Charming...let's just say I was a tad emotional. Especially when stuck in a crappy- THWAK BONK! -...make that a broken crappy bed, which now sloped drunkenly to one corner, and the niggling feeling that I was having déjà vu...I felt like crying.

But when my phone pinged, and I saw I had a message from a dear good friend of mine that hadn't been on Earth for a week, made the day seem just that little more pleasant and bright.

_Good morning _Beste Freundin_, how are you today? I have good news; I'll be on the Hellicarrier for my usual report to Fury. Barring anything coming up somewhere, want to grab a coffee, or frappe, or whatever it is you normies drink?~ Alenka_

Since I needed some major cheering up and a decent cup of tea, a chat with her was in order, not to mention that I had a gift to show Fury. Getting out of my bed and dressed for the day, I thought back on the nature of my friendship with this particular person.

Alenka Grün-Jones was an interesting person, almost bordering to the points of utterly unique, which made her awesome. 6 years my elder, not to mention a few inches taller, with fiery brown hair and the most beautiful blue eyes, she could easily pass as a supermodel; it didn't hurt that she had a body that made men drool, and she walked with all the grace and a royal monarch.

Which, when one thinks about it, is very contradictory about her unbelievable strength and power.

See, Alenka is a mutant, and not just a regular mutant: she's the strongest one in existence. Quick lesson; mutants are classed based on their power levels, Class 1 being the least powerful and Class 5 being the most powerful. Despite that ranking system, Alenka wasn't part of the Class 5; she's a lot stronger and powerful than that. But above all, that never stops her from being a warm, kind hearted and loving soul...just as long as no one gets her angry.

######

Making a quick stop at S.I. to grab my gift for Fury, I made my way to the diner: if anyone wanted to get to the Hellicarrier, chances are someone was already there to get you there. Speaking of which...

"Mornin' Briar." I barely got through the door, and already Quatermaine spots me, and has two steaming take-away cups and a warm welcoming smile on his face. Aside from Hawkeye and Alenka, Quatermaine was a good friend, who always made an effort to see me, get me out of the shoebox and into the world usually for a movie or a picnic (those were rare though, because of his work).

Of course, it could have something to do with the facts that I'm Tony's sister, I can hack a computer better than A.I.M, I can create things that could get H.Y.D.R.A interested...so having a S.H.I.E.L.D. bodyguard wasn't all that bad. At least I had a fun person to hang out with, when Hawkeye wasn't busy.

"Ready to head out?" Quatermaine asked, handing me one of the cups and holding the door open for me.

"Sure." I smiled, walking outside and allowing him to link arms with me and escort me to the awaiting transport. On the way, I went back to my thoughts last night. OK, so maybe a Prince Charmin was a bit out there, but what about a decent guy who happens to be chivalrous? Then again, my Not-Prince-Charming would have to be very patient and understanding about the whole SHIELD, AIM and HYDRA problem...and the fact that I'm so painfully shy and quiet and introverted, it would take a nuclear powered sledge hammer to break through my shell.

_:Once again, Briar Rose, you are utterly hopeless to the point of depressing.:_ My sub conscious spoke, pulling me back into reality just as Quatermaine handed me onto the Hellicarrier. Briefly marvelling at how I managed something like that, I followed Quatermaine inside, through the winding hallways before coming up to the bridge, where we walked to the main platform that two certain people were waiting.

The man on the left was Director Fury, tall, dark skinned and extremely intimidating with his hard stare and eye patch. Sometimes I wonder about how I managed to get Director Fury, of all people, on my emergency contact list, but the moment usually passes when someone tells me to go with the flow of things.

The woman talking to him was a good sight for sore eyes. Standing at 5'7'', with her beautiful hair pulled into a perfect bun (how she did that without a loose hair in sight was beyond me), and a body that Venus herself would envy clad in dark brown 'faux' leather (don't ask me what that means, her words) that didn't leave much for any male to imagine, Alenka was a gorgeous as ever, despite her humble attitude.

Alenka was the first to turn, giving me a warm smile. "So, look what the cat dragged in?" She teased while pulling me into a warm hug, "Missed you, Briar."

"I missed you too." I replied, standing back when the hug ended, "You look great."

"Yeah, just came from an alter-world." She answered with a nonchalant shrug, "Place has a decent beauty spa, but nothing beats home," She wasn't kidding about home being best, but it didn't hurt to get out for an adventure every once in a while.

I must've projected my thoughts, because Alenka gave me a wink before clapping her hand on my shoulder. "By the way, I brought you something." She spoke, reaching into her belt pouch. What she pulled out was strange, it kinda looked like small length of some type of wood. Along the shaft I noticed the engravings, almost like Celtic knots. "From the Woodland Fairies, with love." Alenka smiled before passing it to me.

At this point, I should've reminded myself that Alenka's powers allowed her to travel beyond Earth and the Milky Way, to some very unique places; like the sort of places that had magic? The second the piece of wood was placed in my hands, the Celtic knots glowed a golden colour before the wood itself elongated into a staff with an almost metallic sound. "Whoa." I somehow, and dumbly, breathed in awe.

"Thought you might like is." Alenka smirked proudly, "It's a branch from an enchanted oak tree from the Fantasian forests; a fine non-lethal weapon to have in a tight pinch. It responds to your energy signature, therefore only you can control it. Also, a side effect I know you may need."

"Like what?" I asked distractedly as my hands and eyes explored my new weapon. When I grasped it in both hands, the knots glowed again before the staff seemingly broke itself in half.

"It can split into eskrima sticks." Alenka belatedly answered, "One on the knots is the symbol for energy; if you're fighting either in sunlight or moonlight, it can fire out energy balls."

"Energy balls?" Fury queried, and the sudden sound of his voice was enough to make me jump.

"I know, Briar isn't one for that type of thing, "but this she'll like." Alenka assured the three of us, "The energy will respond to her thoughts; if she just wants to stun the person she's fighting, the staff will stun them. If she needs to do bigger harm, that is possible too." I was stunned...and humbled. For Alenka to trust me with an artefact from another world, or universe is a big privilege.

"That's mighty kind of you, Athena." Quatermaine told her, using the nickname that everyone at SHIELD (mostly the men) affectionately gave her.

"Nothing for it." She smiled in reply before turning to me, "So, still up for that drink?" I was ready to answer her when a melodic chiming from her pouch made her grimace, which turned into a scowl when she read the message on her phone. "Damn it; I can't trust him with anything." She growled angrily before giving me an apologetic look, "Sorry Briar, but I have to get back to Fantasia: the Chancellor has organized a 'dragon cull' day."

"Then you'd better get going." I softly ushered her, "You know I like mythological creatures." Especially the smaller ones. With a brief hug to me and a cheeky salute to Fury and Quatermaine, Alenka was ready to go. A double door, like any ordinary wooden door on Earth, appeared on the bridge from nowhere. "Auf Wiedersehen." She waved before she opened the door and walked through. When the door closed after her, it disappeared just quickly as it came.

And that is how Alenka travels from one place to another.

######

It wasn't long after that Quatermaine had to leave as well, his reason that he had a stack of reports to go through and file away. I imagine it was something he'd been putting off for a while. Once it was just the Director and I, conversation was small, but deep in wisdom.

"Everything all right, Miss Stark?" He asked in a low tone.

"As it can be." I reply with a tiny wince. Still holding the now shortened staff, I folded my arms across my chest, my free hand rubbing my arm for some comfort, "I can't thank you enough for helping, Fury. I know it wasn't something SHIELD deals with, but-"

"But nothing, Briar." Fury interrupted me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder, squeezing is to further send the message of comfort and certainty, "it might not have been something we deal with, but the damage if we had let things go would've been even greater that what did happen."

When he put in like that...he was right. If Hawkeye, Alenka, my brother and SHIELD hadn't of stepped in when they had, I'd either be hip deep in trouble or worse, and I'm not being dramatic about it either. But, thankfully, because of their intervention, I ended up with only spending the last month in ICU.

Fury and I continued with our small talk, ranging from the Capture of the Reaper, and preventing Baron Strucker from escaping (that explains why the bottom half of Fury's hair is now snowy white) to what I've been inventing lately. I was telling him about the latest prototype I just finished and had with me to show him, when alarms started blaring loudly as a large yellow light encased my field of vision. The lightly didn't last long, but a whole slew of new problems began.

Powerful shudders began to shake the ship, and almighty explosions nearly deafened me. Fury and the other agents went into overdrive all around me, looking like blurs of shapes. I did my best to stay out of their way, all the while something in my gut was telling me that this was going to be a very strange day. _:Crappy bed or not, I should've stayed at home.:_ I grimaced. The alarms finally stopped ringing in my ears, just in time for Quatermaine to rush over to me from Fury's side.

"Briar, come on!" He exclaimed frantically, grabbing my hand tightly and dragging me away from the bridge.

"What's going on?!" I cried, doing my best to keep up, but at the pace he was running at? I knew then I definitely get back into shape. Quatermaine didn't tell me what was going on, but the second we rounded the corner, it became all too clear.

Ever wondered where the bad guys went after they were defeated by the hero? Well, depending on the villain, they'd go to one of four prisons. The place that the regular bad guys went to was called the Big House; a building created by Dr. Hank Pym. He created the building that shrunk, and the villains that went in were shrunk too, to create less problems that way. My guess, though, was the explosions that rocked the ship were because the Big House suddenly became huge again, and created a whole that led outside.

And let all its inhabitants like the Serpent Society out roaming the hallways, and of all the members we could've run into Anaconda.

Knowing me, I yelped when Quatermaine and I literally ran into her, catching her attention. However, being friends with Alenka finally paid off. Instinctively, I raised my hands to fight, the wooden shaft in my hand at the same time Anaconda reached for us, and the shaft glowed again before unleashing a bright fiery coloured ball of energy that not only knocked Anaconda out cold, but the force of the impact sent her flying down the hall and through the wall.

The suitable reaction was Quatermaine and I standing there speechless before we looked at each other then down at my new weapon. "Remind me to thank Athena for getting you that stick." Quatermaine breathed before snapping out of the shocked moment we just had, "If I send you back to the ground will you go somewhere safe, please?"

I didn't have time to answer when another powerful explosion ripped through the ship, this one stronger than the others. I'm not quite sure what happened next; everything was pretty much a blur, but I do remember holding onto Quatermaine as the aftershocks knocked about, until we fell out through the hole in the hull. I want to point of that the sensation of free falling isn't all that pleasant. I also believe that I passed out at that point, but not before a large red cape came rushing towards us.

######

Ever had those strange dreams where you wake up, go through your day, but the point where you hurt yourself and wake up in a hospital bed? Yeah, that kinda happened to me, only my day wasn't normal by a long shot.

"Then after we feel out of the Hellicarrier, you activated your jetpack and got us to safety on the docks." Quatermaine recounted, verbally replaying the events that happened before I blacked out, "But I gotta say, your landing left something to be desired."

"Is that because I passed out or because I ended up in hospital again?" I croaked out before a violent thud in my head made me wince.

"Actually, you dropped Quatermaine in the water while you crashed into Hank here, then banging your head against a shipping container." Tony took over, gesturing to said persons I crashed into, "Though I will admit, that was a better landing than I was afraid you would have."

"Thanks, Tony." I murmured sarcastically before giving into my need to yawn. The three men took that as a cue to leave, but not before Hank handed me the magic wooden staff Alenka gave me.

"You dropped this when we 'collided' with each other, so to speak." He explained around a wry smile. After I thanked him for returning the gift, I was briefly visited by the night doctor. When he was done doing my observations and upping my painkillers he left, leaving me to my thoughts.

I must admit it, I did pretty good by all accounts. I took Anaconda out (even though she managed to get away afterwards) and all I had was a mild concussion, and that was from falling out of the Hellicarrier and crashing into Hank. I felt really good that I managed all of that.

_:But despite all that:_ I yawned to myself, the extra dose of painkillers kicking in, _:I really need to get back into shape.:_ With that final thought, I curled into my blankets and was asleep before I even closed my eyes.

* * *

Hm...for some reason, this chapter just seemed to lack in a certain something. That, or I let Briar persona sink in and rambled... she does that a lot when flustered.

Well, anyways, I better skedaddle you want you that third chapter. And yes, before you all send messages of butt-kicker, I will get the third chapter out before the month is over: just bear in mind I have three other stories I want to write out before I forget them...even if one of them is going to be the death of me (damn psychology).

Adios, my friends, and I'll see you before the month is out!


	3. Some Assembly Required

Hey! Sorry I'm late: I tried uploading my story last night, but something went wrong and it wouldn't let me do that, and I was really looking forward to posting, because I'm very proud of this chapter; it took me two days and 13 pages to write-the longest I've written in any first 5 chapters.

Anyhow, I'll stop rambling and let you guys enjoy.

* * *

Some Assembly Required

The concussion I had must have boggled some of my memories, because I swear I forgot how truly overprotective Tony could be sometimes. I mean, the daily calls were one things, and the-almost-daily meals together were another but when I get an injury, be it a paper cut or a serious injury that requires a hospital, the floodgates open and Tony transforms into a raging mother bear, almost quite literally.

In the aftermath of the super-villain breakout, I wasn't left alone for even a second. Somehow, he managed to wrangle a few SHIELD agents into guard duty (then again, I guess Fury had the same idea as Tony did) while I was in the hospital. When I was given the all clear, those same agents bundled me up and escorted me to one of Tony's private apartments, where some of Tony's personal security were ready to take over. When I was settled in (and bored out of my mind), Pepper showed up with a few boxes being carried by movers. Let me tell you, as much as I loved my brother, but geez!

Ok, maybe it's my miniscule independent streak coming out or, more likely, my strong desire not to be a burden on anyone, either way I had words with Tony about the movers and my things, but I was promised that it was temporary: Tony was having a new security system installed into my apartment, and also having people fix the whole building. The prospect of being able to go back to a functioning apartment was blissful. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother...but he really needs to dial back the mother bear act and give me some space.

When the movers finished arranging my boxes and I was left alone, I decided to make good on the promise to myself and get back into shape.

Believe it or not, I wasn't always just a super nerd: I also had a black belt in Bojutsu and martial arts to add to my skills list, and I was pretty good enough to take on a few rookie SHIELD agents. But...there was an incident 5 years ago that really shook my confidence, and my skills dropped a bit. Then the problem a months ago...and my skills went kaput while my confidence hot below rock bottom.

Since then, my small collection of friends have been trying to get my confidence back up, but it's been a very slow process, with very little results. Admittedly, I did feel and bit emboldened since I managed to take out Anaconda, and save mine and Quatermaine's lives when we fell out of the Hellicarrier.

_:If I can manage that.:_ I reasoned as I connected my iPod to my laptop and pressed play, _:then I can sure as heck take on bigger fish...if I ever needed to.:_ with that positive thought, I dropped to the floor and began with push-ups. I was going to show myself that I could get back in the saddle, and that I didn't have to let the bad things in my life get me down any more.

###

A WEEK LATER

"Ugh!" I groaned as I fell face down into my bed, "Ouch!" When I told myself that I was going to get back into shape, I should've reminded myself that it was going to burn. A lot.

_:Then again, I didn't realize how out of shape I was.:_ I reminded myself as I managed to roll over onto my back. Believe me a month without doing my daily exercises showed me how bad I had gotten: I could only manage a third of my old regime, and that was before Quatermaine found out. When he did...I swear that bonk to my head turned me into a masochist.

Don't get me wrong; Quatermaine was the guy to go to when you need a training partner, but as a training instructor?

Bell weights, martial arts training, Bojutsu training, Pilates and running. Lots. Of. Running.

At the end of the first three days, I couldn't feel my legs, arms, anything...and I had more training the next day! But my sudden stubbornness refused to back down, and I forged ahead. At least I didn't need that much Bojutsu training; I still remembered all my lessons. I just had to get my reaction time back up.

But today? A break.

Quatermaine had been called away by Fury for some reason (that man always knows when to send help, always), so I was left to my own devices, which ended up being a walk to the gym with a body guard Tony sent, hitting the weights with Jimmy Wu (of all agents) on the machine next to me and then Pilates class with Pepper. How she got time off from Tony was amazing. That's when she invited me to come with her for the rest of the day, which I eagerly agreed too. I know I was going to regret it when Quatermaine finds out I played hooky, but after a week of exercise, proper food to boost my energy, and hanging out with mostly male SHIELD agents and body guards, I really wanted to just hang out with Pepper for a girls only day.

Riding in the private car back to her apartment, Pepper informed me of what happened after I blacked out, and what Tony and Quatermaine "conveniently" forgot to inform me about: when the super-villains escaped and ran for their respective hidey holes, an ambitious one decided to attack Manhattan. This one was called Graviton or, his real name, Franklin Hall- a physicist that SHIELD had asked for help almost a decade ago, and hadn't been seen since. I guess he let his ego go to his head during an experiment (again), because the last I heard of him, Hall didn't have gravitational powers.

Since no one wanted Manhattan, or the world, to suffer, Iron Man teamed up with Ant Man, the Wasp, Thor and (strangely enough) the Hulk to take Hall out. After the fight and Hall blasted into a catatonic coma, they all decided to form a super-hero squad to fight the bad guys, and now go by the collective name "Avengers". And for the past week, Tony had been creating a headquarters for them in the Maria Stark Mansion; the place where mom used to hold all her charity balls for the needy. And they were all meeting up at the mansion today for the grand tour.

Which would mean having to face people.

Getting the courage to get back into exercise again and getting the courage to hang out with a bunch of people, one who was a green giant with no upper strength limit, were two very different things.

_:Oh, just go along, will you?!:_ my subconscious groaned snippily, which was a strange experience. But when my stubbornness sided with my subconscious...well, I was pretty much stuck, wasn't I?

###

A quick shower, dressing in my favourites jeans, shirts and boots and a light lunch, Pepper and I were driven to the new Avengers Mansion. I hadn't been there for a few years, not since my high school graduation mock party (even back then I was very painfully shy), so it would be nice to see it again, even after Tony turned into a super-hero 'club house'. When we arrived, the only person waiting in front of the wrought-iron gates was the Hulk.

I don't know how, but somehow Pepper got me out of the car and standing beside him without m squeaking in pure fear, but I had trembles. "The others should be along shortly." She informed the both of us, "assuming Tony remembers to be on time." All the Hulk said in response was a snort, crossing his arms and proceeding to scowl...he kinda reminds me of Fury when he gets annoyed by something. For some reason, that made some of the tensions ebb away, and the fact he wasn't even talking to me made a bit more go away.

We all settled into a very awkward silence, just waiting for the others to show up so we could start the tour, but when 20 minutes had passed and no one showed, the boredom started to kick in. My legs were aching from all the standing, so I sat on the pavement Indian-style, gazing lazily at the people walking past us; occasionally some would be a SHIELD agents under cover, but they all kept walking. Probably because I was next to the Hulk, and no one is stupid enough to attack him.

My head was just starting to nod off when Pepper decided to interrupt the silence. "Well, huh, thank you for actually being on time." She told the both of us, but mostly the Hulk, "unlike the others." A rare but witty retort was on my lips when another person arrived.

"Ho, Ms. Potts!" I squealed and leapt from the ground to behind the Hulk as Thor; a giant of a man with a big red cape and hammer descended from the sky in front of us. "And Hulk! 'Tis good to see you again." He added, comradely clapping his hand on Hulk's shoulder, "Are you ready for the upcoming battles?"

_:Battles?!_: I mentally squeaked, wondering what the hell I was getting into, and completely missing the Hulk's answer and the arrival of two more people: Wasp and Ant Man. I forgot how many people would be here, and it really didn't help that my shyness kicked in. I was given a small reprieve from anyone spotting me when Tony arrived. "Well, since we're all acquainted-" Tony started, but was interrupted by Pepper politely coughing. When he gave her a curious look, she merely pointed at me...still hiding behind the Hulk.

"Hello, who's this?" A voice asked from somewhere above me. I squealed in fright and frantically looked around for the source, finally locating it on the Hulk shoulder: a pixie-sized woman in a yellow and black outfit and brown hair.

"Ah." Tony managed to dumbly say before shaking himself, "Everyone, this is my little sister Briar Rose. I think you know everyone else, sis?" I only managed to nod my head even though the rest of me was shaking badly and giving off small squeaks of fear. "Ok, now that we're introduced, welcome to Avenger's Mansion." Tony quickly spoke, diverting everyone's attention away from me, "This was my-" Again he was interrupted, this time by Hulk smashing in the gates and stomping towards the front door. "You know, that was really rude." Tony pointed out, an annoyed tinge in his voice.

Nevertheless, we all followed after him and entered the mansion. Like I thought, it hadn't changed all that much. The black and white tile floors now sported a giant italic A in the middle before the grand staircase that divided two ways. The marled pillars drew the eye up towards the arched roof, the window letting in the right amount of light in. The only other major addition I could see in the entrance foyer was the small panel on the wall; no doubt so that we could speak to JARVIS, the AI that was now speaking to the befuddled Thor.

"What manner of palace is this?" The Asgardian inquired, looking towards Tony.

"This was a museum for the Maria Stark Foundation; my mother's home." He explained, "I've had it upgraded since the breakout. I thought this could be our headquarters."

"Swanky." Wasp complimented as she flew around in her shrunken form. I know that I could trust her, but I couldn't help but feel uneasy as my eyes kept track of her movements.

"The mansion in run by JARVIS; my personal artificial intelligence." Tony continued, gesturing to the panel in the wall that Thor stood next to, "Anything you need, JARVIS will provide. Say 'hi', JARVIS."

"Indeed." The AI replied in its 'prim and proper' British accent. Why Tony made it have a British accent, I didn't know, but it was really soothing to listen to...ok, I guiltily admit that I've asked JARVIS to read me stories while I slept, especially if it was Harry Potter.

We moved from the entrance foyer through one of the side hallways to the kitchen area, which still looked about the same. "We've got a fully stocked kitchen, chef on call-" The sound of the Hulk nosily eating his way through something in one of the three fridges was very distracting, but he didn't seem to care, even when the Wasp landed on his shoulders. The others didn't seem all that impressed with him, but I had finally found the guts to point something out to the Hulk. Or ask him, really.

"Pass the apple juice, please?"

###

Happily drinking away, I followed the rest of the group as Tony led us to the personal areas. "There are 12 bedrooms, maid service, laundry, room service-" and the tour ended in one of the lounge areas by the front of the mansion, "-and a theatre-slash-lounge."

"_More like jackpot.:_ I mentally squealed happily, eyeballing the many different game consoles and tonnes of games for each of –GASP! He has Batman Arkham Asylum. MINE!

"Satellite TV and movies, every form of video entertainment on the planet."

"Are you serious, Stark?" Ant Man pipped up in an exasperated tone, this is what you spent a week repairing?"

"Uh, no." Tony replied, a cheeky smile on his face, "We haven't gotten to the good stuff yet." Geez, what else did he put in this place? "You're gonna need these." Pepper walked up to each of them, handing them what looked like a slightly oversized credit card, with the Avengers symbol on the side, and a small black square on the adjacent side. They didn't look like much, until the large A lit up a soft blue colour, and the black square turned into a picture of Tony's head, "These ID cards are linked to the Stark Industries network, and we'll keep us in audio and visual communication anywhere in the world. They also give you access and control of the mansion."

Call me stumped then as Pepper handed me one as well. I was flabbergasted, but some part of me was a bit ware: Tony and tiny invention? Not such a good idea.

"I can show you how it works." Pepper was offering the Hulk, who seemed to take offence to that.

"Think I can't figure out?" He snarled angrily. Thor looked ready to intervene and 'rescue' Pepper when she merely smiled at the green rage giant.

"You look smart enough to beat a supercomputer at chess." She replied kindly before looking at Tony with a raised eyebrow, "I only offer to help because someone usually causes minor explosions in small devices, unless he's supervised." The look on everyone else's faces was classic.

"Do not!" Tony whined then turned to me for help, "Tell her, Rose!" I merely looked at him before silently pointing to my eyebrow. Yeah, one of the 'minor' explosions managed to singe my eyebrows off. It took weeks to grow back, and I'm in no inclination to go through that again. Ever.

"I think that means you're still not forgiven just yet, don't you think?" Pepper asked my brother in a slightly teasing voice and small smile. Tony just pouted, in his usual unhappy way when Pepper and I gang up on him, before deciding to continue with the tour. My amusement gave way to astonishment when the fireplace began to rise up.

"Nifty!" Wasp exclaimed, leaping off the couch and shrinking. We all followed Tony inside the fireplace, and into a slightly smaller room. The door closed, and everything started to move downwards. It was darkness for a few seconds before lights suddenly appeared, revealing a giant underground cavern containing a slightly smaller but equally impressive glass pyramid.

"And voila; the sub levels." Tony proclaimed with some pride. In the mansion was as grand as it was, chances are this place was even grander.

"The elevator came to a stop, allowing everyone to step into a large laboratory like room. "The mansion's got a beyond state of the art science lab, with space for Hank's modular labs and my armoury." Walking along further, we came across another large room, this time with a giant pool.

"Wow. Big pool." Wasp commented.

"Actually the pool's on the roof." Tony corrected everyone, "This is a fully functioning hangar with two prototype high speed air shuttles." One such machine was rising from beneath the water, a large red and white beast...that immediately displayed its weapons cache and shield. "The Quinjets." Tony introduces. Geez, if I had of paid more attention to him during are geek talk at breakfast, I'd have remembered to breathe. "Weapons, shields, and an air speed of Mach 8, for those of us who can't fly." From the corner of my eyes, I could only smirk as both the Hulk and Ant Man gave him dirty looks, to which Tony quickly moved along, "but they can go into space, too. And then there's the training room."

"What, like a gym?" Wasp asked and Tony began to led the way.

"Well...kinda." He replied, a cheeky glint in his eyes. As everyone followed him out of the hanger, I made to move as well, but stopped when Pepper put her hand on my shoulder.

"I don't think Tony would like to see you tackle it just yet." She told me, then held her clipboard in the direction opposite where everyone else had gone, "How about I show you the medical wing and your lab?" The slightly hurt feeling about not seeing the training room was replaced by wonder and excitement. "I get my own lab?" I repeated, eagerly following Pepper like an excited puppy, to the other side of the pyramid to an area beside the training room.

"Tony's spared no expense in making this area." Pepper explained as she gave me the tour of the soft orange hallways and room, "Medical beds, equipment, and databanks filled with every bit of medical know-how on Earth for any disease."

"Whoa." I breathed, letting me eyes roam over everything in the room, "But I have to ask: is this here because of me?"

"No." She replied with a warm but exasperated smile, "Now let me show you where your lab is." I eagerly bounced after her—bounced? Wow, am I the happy one now?—to see where I could get away from everything and work. She led me to a room just off the med lab; it wasn't as big as Tony's and Hank's labs, but it was just the right size for me. There were display cases lining one side of the room, with every type of tool I could only drool over. Opposite the tools was a long bench where I could work away on my inventions. At the end of the room was a large computer screen.

"I guess I'm on hacker duty?" I asked as I pointed at the large screen.

"If JARVIS needs the extra help." Pepper answered, "But mostly this is for personal enjoyment; Tony's downloaded every movie, game and website you like, so that if your shyness kicks in, you have a safe place to retreat to." Aw, they just know just to look after me.

"Thanks, Pepper." I told her as we headed out, "I'm very grateful for this."

"I know." She nodded, "We just want to see you happy, Briar. That's all we can ever ask for. Maybe, even..." She trailed off into a soft silence, but I knew what she wanted to say, and I couldn't help but feel the old scars twitch.

"I know, Pep, I know." I sighed, rubbing my arm, "But...I don't think I'm ready for that yet." Or ever; there were very few things that really scared me in life, but what happened a month ago...I was never going to tell Tony this, but I still had terrible nightmares, and often found myself waking up crying.

A friendly hand rested on my shoulder before Pepper pulled me into a hug. "It'll take time, but you'll find someone who'd rather cut his arm off before daring to mess with you."

All of a sudden, my flight reflexes kicked in, and the walls felt like they were closing in. I could feel a sheen of sweat starting to appear beneath my shirts, and my gut twisting almost painfully. But, rather than let Pepper know how scared her words had just made me, I swallowed the urge to scream and give her a smile that I'm sure she saw through.

"Maybe." I spoke in a small voice before stepping away, "I'd better head off; Quatermaine has me running in the afternoon Central Park."

"You sure?" She asked, the concerned mother figure coming out, "Maybe you shouldn't: some of the super-villains-"

"I'll be ok. I have the run with a few other SHIELD agents." I promised her, backing slowly towards the elevator, "Really, Pepper." The look she had on said she wasn't all that convinced, but since I had a few agents there to protect me, some of the worry was eased. Some, not all of it.

"Hm. Maybe we should think about getting you a guard dog." She mused out loud. I managed a real laugh before saying goodbye and leaving. Once I was sure no one could see me, I let the fear show on my face and hot footed it to my old apartment.

###

The one thing about trauma; sometimes people mean to say something completely and utterly innocent, but it accidentally triggers the pent up emotions, bringing back the fear and adrenaline till you swore you were back to where to started, where the nightmares first came from.

I know Pepper meant well, I really, truly knew that she was concerned about my life, but...the part about finding someone who wouldn't hurt me...it set it off.

Somehow, I managed to get to my old, half-lived in apartment, where no one would know who I was, and hid in my bathroom, letting myself fall down on the tiles and cry. For some reason, the bathroom walls were different to the other walls; they were more sound proof. And for right now, I was very grateful.

I cried and cried till I had no tears left, but ended up feeling like crap and needed to throw up to get rid of the feeling. When I finally managed to drag myself from the toilet to the sink and looked in the mirror, I couldn't help but grimace.

My eyes were bloodshot, red and puffy, my nose felt like I had a major cold and was dripping everywhere, and I couldn't stop shaking. According to Tony, somewhere beneath all this mess was a beautiful woman, with gorgeous shoulder length black hair that felt like silk, a pair of enchanting bright hazel eyes that made grown men swoon and giddy, and perfectly clear soft ivory skin. Right now, I just resembled a great big mess with scarecrow hair.

_:Like any guy would like this.:_ I snorted repulsively at my reflection, turning on the faucet and splashing cold water onto my face repeatedly. After drying my face and getting my hair into a reasonable style, I decided to do what I told Pepper, and go for a run.

Even though I lied about sharing the run with SHIELD agents; they don't run through Central Park when they have a private training facility in Jersey.

Well..I either run till my legs feel like jell-o, or I stay home and resort to other pain relief, and since I'm definitely not a self harmer, I think a jog is in order.

I changed into a pair of jogging pants that ended just below my knees, a thin t-shirt, a sleeveless hoodie and sneakers before slipping my apartments keys (for here and the one Tony gave me) into a pocket. I was almost out the door when I decided, just for security sakes, to bring my magic staff and Avengers ID card in case I needed help or was needed. I also slipped my credit card in as well, in case I needed to eat or drink. With everything in place, I closed and locked my apartment and started jogging.

###

It was well and truly safe to say that maybe jogging wasn't a good idea. No, I hadn't run into trouble (yet), I just ached. A lot. And when I finally decided to stop and rest my legs, it was pretty late in the evening; sometime not really recommended being out in, especially alone in Central Park. But tonight, I just didn't pay attention. I let out a heavy sigh and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. My legs were still achy, but not as much as before. Maybe I should think about going back to the apartment and order dinner in?

A sudden burst of laughter caught my attention, and winced when I saw a young couple walking over the nearby bridge, completely rapt in each other's attention. The looks on their ace said it all; they were completely in love. The way there were wrapped in each other's arms didn't soothe the feeling of jealousy either.

Was it too much to ask that I _somehow_ find a guy who's kind hearted, warm and completely devoted to the idea of being a true gentleman towards me? Seriously?! Cos all I seem to attract are weirdos and creeps. And that's not counting AIM or HYDRA, or any other super-villain.

"Definitely time to go." I told myself grumpily, trying not to be jealous.

"Aw, don't go babe. We're just about to have fun." Ah, crap.

I jumped to my feet as someone stepped out from the shadows; a typical kid thinking he was a big man for targeting defenceless women. A rather tall, Caucasian kid dressed in 'cool gangster' clothes, probably a few years younger than me, and probably twice as stupid as he looked.

"Somehow, your definition of 'fun' seems a lot like attempted rape." I commented coolly, taking slow steps away from him and keeping my ears open in case there were more friends of his around.

"I wouldn't call it 'attempted'." He sneered, pulling a pocket knife from his pocket. I shot him a plain look before pulling my staff out and increasing the size. The look on his face was interestingly amusing.

"Looks like we agree, because I wouldn't let you even breathe on me." I retorted before sliding into a fighting stance. The kid just sneered again and began charging, yelling as he did...and was sent face first into the dirt.

But not by me.

"Oh, boy." I gulped, gripping my staff tightly in increasing fear. What 'saved' me was a great big wolf, and I'm not kidding about the size! This thing was close to being 4 feet tall, maybe more and no doubt it weighed a tonne: the guy it had pinned to the floor was sounding like something had cracked from the impact, maybe a ribcage. The great beast was really angry too, going by the way it was snarling at him. Finally, it got off him to stand in front of me, growling and snarling quite viciously. Seeing as he was looking death in the jaws, the kid dropped the knife and ran like hell.

Leaving me alone with the giant wolf.

My body was paralysed by fear, my legs locked and shaking as it turned around to face me. My earlier assessment of it being a wolf was wrong; it looked more like a German Shepherd crossed with something else. But whatever the crossbred, it was way too big to be a normal dog.

Instead of pouncing on me, like I kind of expected to happen, the dog just stood there looking at me...before breaking into a happy but dopey face and panting loudly.

"Um..." Was pretty much the most intelligent thing I could come up with at the moment, my heart was pounding so loudly against my chest I was sure that everyone in the park could hear it. Still, the dog continued to look happy, and honestly a bit silly. "Uh, thank you?" I questioned, then asked myself why I was talking to a giant dog. It didn't seem to mind my questionable sanity, instead it chose to sit on the ground.

It, or rather he, didn't seem like he was going to hurt me. Timidly, I uncurled my hand from my chest and hesitantly reached towards him. The dog didn't even flinch as my hand rested on his head, even closing its eyes as I began to rub his head. Feeling pretty bold, I put my staff back into my pocket and used both hands to rub its white fur. Well, mostly white; there was a soft black dapple patterned colour around its eyes and down his back. When I stopped patting him for a moment, he opened his eyes, showing me a pair of big and bright blue eyes.

"Well, you don't seem to have a collar." I commented out loud as I felt around his neck, giggling as his tongue ran over my arm in a friendly lick, "Still, you may have a microchip. You might belong to someone." Hopefully; he was too beautiful to be a stray. "Well, you may as well come home with me tonight." I told the giant dog, "and tomorrow we'll see if you have a home." He gave a small huff and walked beside me as I headed for the exit.

_:If it turns out he doesn't have anybody, I think I'll keep him.:_ I told myself, resting my hand on his back as he walked, _:he really is very beautiful.:_ Plus, he may be trainable, so he could be my guard dog But he would need a name till them.

We were a few minutes from the exit when my new friend stopped, and started growling, which was never a good sign. "Well, now." I almost groaned when the owner of the voice—the kid from earlier—stepped onto the path, a smug look on his face

"Wow, aren't you the masochist?" I questioned sarcastically, "are you that eager to hit the dirt again?" the giant dog growled menacingly as if ready for round 2.

"Nah, but I am eager to hit you, babe." He sneered lecherously. My spine started to tingle in disgust, but it quickly turned into fear when more boys appeared from behind the trees. There were 10 all together, and each carrying a deadly weapon. _:I am so dead.:_ I mentally gulped, and it really didn't help that my mind when blank. Great, a gang bang, and no help in sight. Well, maybe the dog, but against this many and with those weapons?

My legs started moving, walking me backwards, my breathe coming fast as they followed, like a pack of jackals. They all began to call out, saying what they'd o, other just smacking the head of a wooden club or pipe into their hand, or swinging a metal chain. The dog stayed beside me, growling as back me away, trying to protect me.

"Oh, are we gonna have some fun now!" The kid from before, and apparent leader, crowed in excitement, the rest of his friends sharing in my apparent fear. Just when my life couldn't suck an—

"I do not think the woman agrees with you." A male voice sounded, almost echoing around us, and putting a temporary stop to the madness. It wasn't anyone I know; maybe a rookie SHIELD agent? If he was, where was he hiding all this time?

"What the f—who's there?!" The gang leader exclaimed angrily as they all looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. It was quiet for a few seconds before the branches above my head rustled, and a large figure dropped down in front of me. Whoever he was, he was big: quite easily the same size as Tony or taller, and definitely had bigger muscles. I could see them tensing and shifting underneath the full black body suit he was wearing.

"What the hell are you supposed to be, a cat?" one of the thugs asked, eyeing up my...well, hero, for the moment.

"Don't care; he's interfering." Their leader snapped, "Take him out and get the girl; we've got a schedule to keep." Fear of being gang raped gone, fear of being kidnapped for who-knows-what and possibly raped and tortured coming right up!

My hero didn't say anything. The only thing he did do was clench his fist, and when he unclenched them, there was a loud shink as the tips of his gloved hands sprouted claws. The first thug came to attack, and he was down as fast as lightning, soon followed by all those coming to attack him. Whoever this guy is, he had some serious martial arts, not to mention acrobatics: it was dizzying trying to keep up with his speed. I was jerked out of my thoughts by something nudging my leg: the dog was nudging me away. Away was good!

One last look back at my hero, and then I started running. I didn't care where just as long as I was safe. Soon the sounds of fighting was gone, leaving only the sound of me and the dog running.

The strain on my legs was too much, and I fell down like a load of rock, and any energy I had left was now gone. "I should've stayed at the mansion." I groaned weakly, pushing my upper body up and looked around. The dog came back to my side, whining softly as he nudged my shoulder with his nose. "I'm ok, I think." I told him, though I was very shaky getting to my feet, using the dog to lean against. At least I'm closer to a park exit now; I just had to walk out...and home. Great.

"Tonight is definitely not my night." I groaned to the dog, who whimpered in agreement. I managed to slid one foot forward, but when I shifted my weight, my legs buckled. I gasped as my body started falling to the side, the ground racing up, but strangely a pair of strong arms safely caught my and held me up.

"I would not recommend walking." My head snapped around to look at my hero, the man in the black cat suit. I wasn't kidding about him having muscles: I felt so small, like a child, in his grasp. And this close up, I could hear the warm deep timbre in his voice, almost like his voice was reverberating throughout my body and reaching deep into my heart.

When I looked into his masked face, and the yellow eyes looked back at me, I felt my legs—and insides—turn into jell-o yet again, but this time...there was a warmth. Like I felt safe, protected.

"R-r-right." I stammered quietly, but found that talking was becoming very hard to do, especially when pressed against a large warm body, "S-sorry ab-b-bout that." The corner of his mask, where his mouth was I guess, twitched like he was fighting back a smile, before carefully scooping me into his arms and carrying me to a nearby tree. A small part of me began to freak out, that maybe he had plans to rape me instead of letting the thugs do it, but somehow...my heart felt like I...trusted him, like I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

My heart was right when all he did was set me down against the tree, sitting on my right. "Are you all right now?" He asked in a gentle voice, making me shake uncontrollably and feel calm at the same time.

"I-I-I g-guess so." I answered softly, drawing my knees up a little, "I m-mean, I'm s-still scared: if y-y-you hadn't of s-s-shown up..." The full weight was of what could've happened slammed into me, sucking the air from my lungs and my head hurt, and for the second time this night I started to cry. My eyes squeezed themself shut tight as I tried to block out the potential images, but they still came hard and fast. A hand crept around my waist as my hero pulled me close against him, guiding my head to his chest.

Instead of offering 'comforting' words that 'it wasn't going to happen' or 'I have you, you're safe', he let me cry into his chest, his arms holding me tight. There was a familiar whimper in the air as the dog rested his head against my body, occasionally licking my arm for comfort. When I finally cried my last tear, and managed to calm down slightly, I pulled myself away from the warm embrace and wiped at my cheeks. "Sorry." I croaked out, "I didn't mean-"

"Shhh." He hushed, cupping my face in one hand as the other pulled my hands away from my face, "You were frightened, little one; it is perfectly fine to show weakness when you are safe." Safe? The words that thug leader had spoken came back with sickening clarity, making my entire body tense as I looked up at my hero with new fear.

"I'm not though, am I?" I whimpered pathetically, "Those thugs—they wanted me. What if they try to find me again? What-" Against my hero hushed me, this time gently pressing his finger against my lips to silence me, his other hand moving to rest against the back of my neck.

"Do not give into this fear, my little one." He urged in a hushed voice. Hushed as it was outside, but inside it roared with comfort and strength, something I desperately clung to. "They will only find you if you give into this fear, and let it consume you." He continued to speak in a hushed tone as his hand carefully smoothed the tension out from my neck, and from my body, leaving me completely limp in his hands and feeling at peace. "You have great strength, little one; I can see it in your eyes. Reach deep and never let it go." He murmured softly as he cradled me back into his arms, his heart beating a soothing rhythm as my head rested above it, the warmth of his body through his body suit making me drowsy.

Before I fell too sleepy, a loud whine interrupted the spell my hero had woven around us. Lifting my head from where it rested, I laughed softly as the white dog seemed to be pouting at us. "No, I can't forget about you." I spoke, gently patting his head, "Other's would've run long ago." The dog whined indignantly, making the both of us laugh, and the sense of fear disappear.

"Your friend is quite brave." My hero commented, patting the dog's head as well, "What is his name?" A blush crept onto my face, probably making me look even more red-faced than before.

"Actually, he's not mine." I sheepishly admitted, "he just followed me after stopping that thug leader the first time." The arm that rested around my waist tensed, pulling me closer to his body in a protective embrace, but that lasted only for a moment before relaxing again, but the muscles were still tensioned in his chest. "Then, perhaps, you should keep him." He proposed, "he knows who tried to attack you, and so can protect you." If that wasn't enough to make my decision, the furry beast lay down and showed me his belly, pawing at me and whimpering. "Aw, come on." I protested weakly even as my hero laughed heartily.

"Ok, you win!" I whined, "Enough with the pouting!" The dog barked happily as he leapt to his paws and jumped around happily, finally settling down and sitting beside us again. "Alright then, what to call you?" I asked out loud, "It has to be unique, so...Voltaire."

"Voltaire? My hero questioned, "as in the satirical polemicist, François-Marie Arouet?" Holy—what?

"Yeah." I agreed slowly, turning to look at him with a questioning look, "How'd you know?"

"Bachelor of Philosophy." He replied casually, then twitched. I knew that twitch: the 'damn, I wasn't meant to say anything' twitch. Maybe I should play along with it, for now.

"Well, it's nice to hear that someone knows their philosophers." I commented before turning back to the dog, "What do you think, Voltaire? Like it?" if a happy yip and a wet kiss wasn't a positive answer, I don't know what was.

"Voltaire, it is." I decided, using the back of my hand to wipe away the dog saliva on my cheek. That was when I realized how really late it was, and where I was. "I think I'd better go home."

"Of course." My hero agreed, getting to his feet first then helping me to mine, "Please, allow me to escort you there." My mind almost stopped when he said that before kicking into overdrive. I barely know him, and yet he wants to walk me home. I did know that I can trust him...but I was definitely not showing him either of my apartments! So that left one place to go to.

"If you want." I shyly replied. Without another word, he threaded my arm into the crook of his and led me through the park gates, Voltaire happily trotting in front of us. It was a quiet walk, but not at all awkward or uncomfortable; but rather...perfect, being the only the only word to describe it.

All too soon to my liking, we arrived at Avenger's Mansion, in all it's quiet glory. "Good evening, Ms. Stark." JARVIS greeted me as I scanned my ID card to open the gate.

"Hey, JARVIS." I replied a bit tiredly, the night starting to catch up to me, before turning to my hero, "Thank you for walking me home."

"It was my utmost pleasure, Ms. Stark." He replied. Ick, but hearing him call me 'Ms. Stark' didn't feel right.

"Rose." I blurted out, then blushed, "Just Rose. I'm only called Ms. Stark when I'm in trouble."

"Rose, then." My hero purred, an entirely seductive sound in my ears, as he took my hand in his, "And a fitting one, may I add." Apparently, I hadn't filled out my blushing quota for the night, hence the soft burning in my cheeks at his words.

"Thank you." I murmured shyly, "um...will I see you again?" Where the hell did _that_ come from?! Geez, slow down girl!

"I am certain that there are events unfolding as we speak, that will permit that." He assured me in his warm deep voice, raising my hand closer to his face, "Until we meet again, my little Rose." My blush intensified as he pressed a masked kiss to the tips of my fingers. _:Smooth:_ My subconscious squeaked happily. With a final good night to each other, I led Voltaire towards the mansions doors. _:Wait! Who was that guy?! What was his name?!:_ My subconscious scrambled maddeningly. Belatedly, I turned around, but wouldn't you know it, he was gone. Dang.

"Well...until next time, my brave warrior." I whispered to the nights air before opening to the door and letting myself and Voltaire inside. Once the door was closed, I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding in, before I remembered something very important.

"JARVIS, Tony doesn't need to know about all of that, ok?" I asked the AI almost pleadingly.

"Motherboard's the word." He replied, part of his programmed humour showing through, but meaning every word about keeping quiet. Good thing, because it'd be really awkward telling him how I met the guy, and what was said.

And I definitely couldn't tell him that I was getting butterflies for a guy I just met!

* * *

Ta-da! The Black Panther finally makes his appearance! And isn't he such a smooth operator, too? No wonder he annoys Tony so much. Anyway, I must be off: another chapter to write, and hopefully not have my computer stop me from posting it up.

Adios, muchachos! (or however you say it; sorry if I butchered anything!)


	4. Living Legend

Back again! And if anyone had any objections, I'll get this story out and start working on the next chapter.

* * *

Living Legend.

You know in the movies or books about love, romance and all that stuff, they talk about the sudden feelings they get when the main person meets the person they're supposed to end up madly in love with. The feeling of butterflies in their stomach, the light headedness, and sighing every time you find yourself thinking about how perfect the other person is.

I had none of those.

Well, yes, I did have butterflies in my stomach, but I can put that towards the ordeal I went through beforehand. And the light headedness; that too can be contributed to the ordeal. I mean, I was jogging all day, then running for my life, so yes, easily explainable. Sighing every so often? You try calming down an extremely excitable 4 foot tall dog. Honestly, Voltaire was so eager to look around, smelling everything then bounding around: I'm just grateful he didn't pee in his excitement. But after checking everything out, he calmed down, allowing me the chance to get something for the both of us to eat.

Heading into the kitchen and straight for the fridge, I spared a glance at the clock above, and cringed when the time more or less smacked me in the face. It was pretty much 2 in the morning; and I was meeting up with Quatermaine in a few hours for training! "Dear, Lord, I am a masochist." I groaned out loud. Voltaire whined inquisitively, cocking his head to the side in the most heartbreakingly adorable way.

I couldn't help but smile at him before going back to searching through the fridge for something to eat. The large steak was perfect for Voltaire and an apple & tub of yoghurt for me. "Now, no mess, ok?" I asked my large furry friend, "I'd like to leave this room the way we found it." All eyes were on the steak. Rolling my eyes, I held it in front, and was quite surprised with how gently he took the steak from my hand then walked over to the island counter, sat and started eating.

Carrying my meal to the same island and sitting on the stool, I let my mind wonder to the incident in Central Park not 4 hours ago. A dozen thoughts were racing in my mind, but none more concerning that the one about why that gang was after me. I may be known for my knack of inventing and all things computer related, but that only seemed to be interesting to super-villain groups, so why would a small time gang want me? _:Unless they just wanted to rape me, and I'm over thinking things.:_ my subconscious offered sagely, _:like your hero said 'Do not give in to this fear'.:_ That was another concern.

While I was very grateful for the rescue, and the company back to the mansion, the guy raised a few more questions than answers, like what was he supposed to be in that costume? Then, of course, him being in the right spot at the right time. And more importantly, what was he talking about before, the 'events are in motions' part? Was that just an empty answer to my impulsive request, or was he being serious? And if he was, that what events was he talking about?

"Maybe I'm over thinking about this guy, too." I told myself, crunching through my apple, "for all I know, he could be a new hero coming out to fight the super-villains." Sounds reasonable enough.

_:Plus, it'll mean seeing him more often, and you can't deny that he has an amazing voice, and equally amazing rock hard body.:_ my subconscious purred, and I swear it laughed when I choked on my yoghurt in response.

When I finally stopped chocking and regained my composure, I tried not to think too much about how obvious my subconscious was being about this guy. OK, ok, fine! I will admit, from a completely innocent point of view, that he was incredible; what with his prowess at taking on 10 armed thugs and being incredibly acrobatic, then only moments later how gentle he was handling me. My face heated brilliantly when, all of a sudden, my mind started playing images f my hero in slow motion capturing every part of his black full body cat-suit perfectly moulded to his muscular, tight,...warm, and heavenly body. And his voice, so deeply timbered and richly warm, comforting as his hands massaged the back of my neck, oh, my.

"Ms. Stark?" I flew out of my chair with a yelp, and landed on my elbow with a painful jolt. Voltaire was by my side instantly, whining and nudging my body with his nose.

"I'm-I'm ok." I breathed out shakily, then remembered that JARVIS had spoken, "Something wrong, JARVIS?"

"Not at all." He replied innocently, "But I have noted that your face has turned a lovely flushed red complexion, and that your heartbeat increased, as did you-"

"Ok, ok!" I quickly shushed him, getting to my feet and placing the kitchen stool up right again, "I get the gist." As did my sore elbow. But clearly, my subconscious was trying to get me into trouble, making me think about that guy, and how...statuesque his muscles were—holy crap, again?!

"I so need a distraction." I moaned in annoyance.

"If I may suggest: the training room is currently unoccupied." JARVIS offered.

Thank god for billionaire's personal AI with a British accent and a sense of secrecy!

######

It took me the time to get from the kitchen to the sublevel entrance to realize that not only had I been running for a few hours to turn my legs into cement, but now that my senses have had a chance to calm down, I found that I stink! But JARVIS kindly pointed out that in my private lab, Tony had installed a small hidden room, which had a shower, a powder room and a small cot. Thank you, Tony! What was even better was that there was a small backpack with a change of clothes, including pyjamas. So once I had a hot shower and changed into my pj's, I crawled into that so very comfy looking bed and sighed in bliss, grunting when Voltaire jumped up and curled up by my legs. I was too tired to care, and out like a light the minute my head hit the incredibly soft pillow.

I'm not sure how long I was asleep for before Voltaire started growling softly. I lifted my head when I heard voices echoing through the hallways. "JARVIS, who's down here?" I asked quietly as I slipped from the cot and quickly changed clothes before activating my magi-staff.

"Aside from yourself and your canine companion; Mr. Stark, Thor, Ant Man and Wasp have entered the sublevels." He replied. I let out a relieved sigh before walking out of my lab, Voltaire walking beside me.

"Geez, what are they doing here so early? Wait, what time is it?" I questioned the AI as I led the way to the assembly hall, just off the hangar bay.

"It is currently 4:45 am, Mr. Stark and company have arrived due to an incident with the Hulk, and your meeting with Agent Quatermaine has been postponed due to said previous incident." Ah.

When Voltaire and I reached the assembly hall, and saw everyone else gathered around the holo-computer, deep in discussion, I stood by the doorway to keep out of the way, then noticed Voltaire walking up to the still shrunken Wasp...oh, dear. Before I could speak up though, I saw her freeze as Voltaire panted right on her back. When she slowly turned around and saw him...she screamed. Voltaire yelped before running back to me. "Whoa, whoa, hey!" I exclaimed as he nearly knocked me over in the process of trying to hide behind my legs.

"What is that?!" Wasp exclaimed from the safety of Ant Man's back in her real size.

"And where did it come from?" Tony asked, eyeballing the poor dog with open distrust.

"This is Voltaire." I introduced to everyone, kneeling down and snuggling my new puppy into a hug, "he followed me home, so I kinda adopted him." Belatedly, I gave my best puppy pout to Tony. "Can I keep him?" I asked in my most cutest voice possible. While Tony sputtered for an answer, Voltaire got the courage to wander over to the others and cautiously sniff them.

"My, he is a large beast." Thor commented, a smile on his face as Voltaire wound around his legs, and finding his large red cape fun to play with, "I did not realize wolves could be so large...or tame."

"I don't think it is a wolf." Ant Man theorized out loud as he knelt down to inspect Voltaire closely, grunting when Voltaire nearly knocked him over trying to smell him, "His facial features look closer to a German Shepherd, but the body is more English Mastiff, or something else. Be he definitely is bigger than any average breed."

Voltaire whined loudly before dropping to his belly and crawled towards Wasp, looking absolutely cute. She gave him a critical look, but that changed into one of adoring when he whined at her. "Oh, he's so cute!" She gushed, swooping down and hugging him around the neck, "and so soft!" Clearly, Voltaire had won her over, despite their rocky first encounter. I looked back at Tony and saw that he wasn't impressed. I gave him my most apologetic face before clasping my hands prayer style. He merely raised his eyebrow before giving a silent mock martyred sigh and a warm, accepting smile. YES!

"So what are you guys doing here so early?" I asked curiously, though it was mostly directed at Tony.

"Ah...we've had a bit of a problem." He answered vaguely, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"What sort of 'problem'?" Tony suddenly found something else better to do other than answer, but Wasp was more than happy to do that for him, regardless of Tony's wish for me not to know. "Oh, man, you should've seen it!" she gushed excitedly, shrinking down and flying over to me, "We got to fight against two Asgardians, one that bewitched the Hulk, but now he's gone and we have to find him." Then she went in depth about the experience, while Ant Man simply shook his head at her. I'd be happy to listen, if she wasn't so small right now and flying too fast for me to see.

Soon they had to leave in order to find the Hulk, and giving the fact that the guy can leap pretty far in a single bound, there were going to need some help. Thankfully, the Quinjets were pretty fast so they could easily catch up to the wayward green giant. Tony's stipulation? I stay at the mansion. Fair enough with me; I could finally use the training room in peace now.

######

FOUR DAYS LATER

Apparently, there is some mystical force out there in the world that is desperate to prove me wrong. I said that it was going to be easy to find the Hulk, said mystical force decides to say 'ha, ha, suckers!' and made it hard to find him. Seriously?! He's a lime green, larger than life giant with major anger issues: how hard is that to find?!

Normally I wasn't this cranky, but ever since the Hulk went MIA, Quatermaine always seems to be so busy; we haven't had a chance to meet up and talk about my training. I know he works for a global spy network, and that there were groups like HYRDRA and AIM doing bad things, but was it really that hard to visit, even call, every once in a while?

Though there was a plus side to being left alone in a multi-level mansion that belongs to a billionaire hero: I get to play with all the toys.

After the others left to find the Hulk, I made a beeline for the top side and into the theatre-lounge and played Batman Arkham Asylum. What can I say; I'm a gamer girl. When I clocked the fastest time to finish a game (or at least get a good chunk through most of the game play and plot line), I took a break for lunch, then hit the training room.

Now, that was a lot of fun: I could get JARVIS to customize the levels however I wanted, and I could play my music as loud as I wanted without people complaining. Most excellent way to train? I think so. And that's pretty much was I've been up to these last few days: playing Arkham Asylum, playing with Voltaire, and training down in the sub levels.

This particular day, I was running through another customized session; this time a combined run of parkour and target practice, the latter being included since I found out that when the magi-staff was separated into eskrima sticks, they could send out small energy balls, like a hand gun but non-lethal. WICKED! Anyway, as I ran through the course, I had a loud techno song pulsing throughout the speakers, really letting me feel the energy and enjoying the exercise a lot more than usual.

Halfway through my run, the music cut out and was replaced by a cell phone ring. Oh yeah, I forgot: I hooked my phone up to JARVIS's systems. "JARVIS, who is that?" I asked, exiting the training room and heading straight to my lab to clean up.

"Mr. Stark; he wishes to inform you that he, and the other Avengers, are returning to the mansion." He answered, "Mr. Stark has also requested that you be present in the assembly hall: there is a surprise waiting when they return."

"All right." That makes me worried for some reason. I don't know why, but it just does. But I put it out of my mind long enough to enjoy and nice hot shower. Once out, dried and dressed, I headed to the assembly hall, JARVIS kindly informing me that Tony and the others were approaching the hangar now. _:The moment of truth.:_ I sighed to myself as the doors opened to let me in.

In movies, you know how a room you think is empty, but when you enter there's that really eerie tingle up your spine, like someone was inside already, just hiding in the shadows? I got that feeling, but I admit I felt a little silly when the doors opened, and the feeling hit, but the only other living being in the room was Voltaire. "Hey, boy." I cooed at him, smiling as he got to his paws and wagged his tail happily, "How'd you get in here?" He merely yipped happily as I ran my hands through his fur. I didn't pay much attention when the sounds of the Quinjet landing filled the room next door, but when the door opened I looked up.

"Hey, Briar!" Wasp called in absolute excitement as they all came in, "You will not believe who we found!" When Tony walked in with said mystery guest, I had the strangest feeling that I've seen him before. Then again, history was never my strongest subject.

"Briar." Tony called, resting his hand on the gentleman's shoulder, "I'd like you to met Captain America. Captain, this is my little sister Briar Rose." Captain America? Sounds familiar, but still not pinging.

"A pleasure to meet you, Captain." I smiled gently.

"Likewise, miss." He replied, matching my smile for a weaker, tired one. Somehow, he just seemed so sad. Voltaire must have picked up on that as he walked over and sat beside the poor man. A small spark made the Captain's eyes light up a little, and he gently patted his red-gloved hand over my dog's head. "And this is Voltaire." I added, "Sorry, in advance, if he gets too rambunctious for you."

"That'll be all right." Cap assured as he looked back at me, "I have a feeling that'll be something else I need to get used to now." Tilting my head to the side in confusion, I was about to ask what he meant when Tony took over and led him to the holo-computer.

"There's something I want to show you." Tony explained as he slipped the end of his ID card into a port, pulling a file out to show him, "My dad used to tell me stories about you when I was a kid. You were an inspiration to me." As he spoke, an old newspaper article appeared on the holo-screen, and I suddenly realized why he seemed so familiar.

An image of Captain America, in the heat of a battle, was the center of the page with the heading reading in bold print 'CAPTAIN AMERICA FALLEN! AND A NATION'S HEART WITH HIM!'. Of course: the man to first fight HYDRA in the second World War, and give hope to millions of people in the Allied Forces everywhere; our nation's greatest hero. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Cap cleared his throat in an uncomfortable manner.

"That's...some poor reporting." He commented, then an almost hopeful spark flickered in his blue eyes, "But if I survived, may be Bucky..." My heart bled for him as Tony told him that everybody learned in school that both Captain America and Bucky were killed saving us all from the Red Skull's final plan. He didn't seemed all that impressed when Tony commented that it was a miracle that he himself survived.

"Bucky's gone. Everyone I knew. My whole world, it's all gone, isn't it?" he thought out loud. I wasn't the only one feeling sorry for him; Wasp looked almost close to tears. I can't imagine how he must feel right now. He said nothing more as he took his iconic circular shield off his arm and placed it on the table, and began to walk away.

Poor man. What do you say to someone who's lost everything?

With a quick glance at Tony, who gave me a nod, Voltaire and I left the room to follow him. I don't know what I'd do when we did, but the bleeding heart of mine couldn't let him suffer like this. Thanks to Voltaire's nose, we tracked him to the upper levels. "Found him?" Wasp called as she flew up alongside me.

"Yeah; he's in the personal quarters." I answered her, walking behind Voltaire as he continued his search for the hero, "What are we going to do, once we find him?"

"I have no idea." She replied in a sad tone, and that's when the conversation ended. Voltaire paused at a door before sitting down. Giving each other a worried look, Wasp grew to her normal size before knocking on the door. "Cap? Steve?" She called timidly before opening the door. We found him sitting on the edge of the bed Tony provided, a picture frame of a black and white photo of himself and Bucky in his hands.

"Iron Man tried to make it feel as much as the 40's as he could." Wasp offered hopefully, gesturing to the room. _:That explains a few things.:_ I told myself as I eyed the pin up girl on the wall, but despite that, the rest of the room had a homey feel about it. A sudden beeping noise filled the air, directing our attention to the radio of a nearby dresser. Various panels shifted and parted, revealing one of JARVIS's interface panels. "Excuse me, Miss Wasp and Miss Stark, there appears to be a guest at the main gate."

"Well...as much as the 40's except the talking computer." Wasp joked weakly, but clearly Cap was too depressed to make a response. "Are you ok?" She asked, even though she knew otherwise.

"I should never have woken up." He spoke softly, his shoulders beginning to fall in sadness, "I'm a soldier, not some future man. I can't imagine a world that's changed so much yet still needs Captain America." Voltaire gave a soft growl before walking over, standing right in front of him and giving a serious of low barks before finally whining.

"Voltaire seems to think otherwise." I told him gently, then placed my hand on Cap's shoulder, making him look at me, "And there'll always be a need for Captain America." The whole room shook violently as a loud explosion erupted from below.

"Definitely a smart dog!" Wasp cried before shrinking, "it came from the front door!" With barely a thought, the rest of us ran to catch up to her. Good thing I decided to stay at the mansion today, I think?

"JARVIS, get the mansion defences ready!" I called out to the AI, "We'll take care of the rest."

"I need my shield!" Cap pointed out. Shoot! It was still down in the assembly hall.

"Come one: we're almost there!" Wasp encouraged before zooming ahead, making Cap call for her to wait. That lady sure likes a fight! As Cap, Voltaire and I raced towards the battle, I could hear the sound of missiles firing, Wasp's stingers and...was that groaning?

My question was answered when we rounded the corner, and Cap immediately jumped on top of a giant ball of floating yellow...something, which sent him crashing into a wall and human shaped dent. The giant floating slimey thing went after Wasp again, and before I could get my magi-staff ready, it swallowed her whole.

"No!"

"Wasp!" Both Cap and I looked on in horror as the slimey thing turned around to face us. The creature started to growl when its stomach started flashing yellow, and began to grow distended and—

SPLAT!

...I was showered in slime. Opening my eyes, I saw that Cap, Voltaire, the walls...pretty much everything was covered in whatever this thing was made of.

"Ew." I finally managed to say. A piece of slime got into my mouth, making me gag and sputter. "Ugh!...it tastes like raw dough and corn." Cap gave a soft chuckle before noticing a small blob starting to move. Through the mass of slime, we made out a pair of wings and tiny body: Wasp. Covered head-to-toe in slime.

"That was disturbing." She groaned, causing the both of us to smile. The mood changed when a loud gunshot blasted through the air and an energy bullet hit her, Voltaire and myself. Thankfully, the shot hit the back of my shoulder, and didn't hurt as much, but it was still enough to knock me down.

Looking behind us where the shots came from, I felt my insides freeze as a man, clad in a purple body suit and mask, held a gun at Cap's head and a sword in his other hand.

"Captain America." The man spoke, a light German accent to his voice, "It's been a long time."

"Zemo." Cap growled softly in recognition. Zemo, as in Baron Zemo? The man who took had control over HYDRA before Red Skull? The guy who dealt with genetic freaks? That Zemo?!

"Briar, can you move?" Cap's voice almost made me jump out of my skin.

"On three?" I answered back. We didn't even need to say it before Cap charged at his old foe. Miraculously, I managed to dive into one of the rooms off the man hall, and pull Voltaire in after me. Peeking my head around the corner, I clearly saw Cap standing over Zemo, his foot firmly planted on the Baron's chest.

"Excellent: I was worried you wouldn't be as I remembered you." Zemo gloated mockingly at the nation's hero, "I wouldn't want you to be any less than perfect!" Summoning strength from who knows where, Zemo was able to kick Cap off him.

Once they were far enough from each other, Zemo leapt to his feet, kicking his sword up into his hand. "All these years, I thought the Red Skull had defeated you." He commented as he swung his sword, getting ready to fight, "Now I can finally have my revenge." With that he lunged forward at an almost blinding speed, but somehow Cap avoided a thrust before the pair of them began to circle each other. Knowing that he was going to need help, I started to rub my injured shoulder, hoping to get some feeling back into it quickly.

"How are you still alive, Zemo?" Cap demanded from him, his fists clenched and at the ready.

"Death means nothing to me." Zemo replied mockingly, "I have evolved my body over the years, while you remain as you ever were." He lunged again, several times, and managed to slice a large gash on Cap's chest. It momentarily phased him before he lunged forward with a punch, but Zemo merely stepped aside and gave another slash, this time under his arm, before knocking Cap to the ground. _:Come one, arm! Come on!:_

"You are alone, Captain: a relic in this world." Zemo taunted, approaching the immobile Captain with his sword poised for the final strike, "Arnim Zola's creatures will deal with your new friends." Oh, he did not threaten my brother! "But you? Let the Skull have Bucky; your life is mine to take!" He pounced with a yell, his sword pointing straight at Cap's heart.

"NO!" I heard myself scream, but the noise was silenced by a loud thwang, caused by Captain America's faithful shield being imbedded in the wall, deflecting the blow just in time.

I quickly searched for the person responsible, and my heart fluttered when I saw my hero from Central Park, perched on a ledge by the ceiling. Seeing him here, and now, it...I don't know why, but I suddenly felt a lot braver than normal. And just in time, because my arm felt much better.

With Zemo distracted, I pulled myself to my feet and leapt into the air. Landing on Cap's shield with practiced ease, I swept my foot out and caught Zemo by surprise and the jaw, sending him staggering back a few feet.

"I'm only going to say this once, you purple sock-faced freak." I spoke boldly and with much confidence as I leapt to the ground, got into a protective stance and activating my magi-staff, "get out of my house." Then it was on.

I know it'd been a while since I was in a fight, but in that moment, I felt like I never stopped training, parrying, dodging, landing a few hits of my own. At one point Zemo's sword slashed my staff in half, but his satisfaction didn't last long when I stared matching blow for blow with renewed energy, and when Cap joined the fight.

Fighting like we were in a telepathic sync, Cap and I got the best of our foe when I blocked Zemo's dagger and deflected in into the wall. Once my hand was clear, Cap kicked at Zemo's hand, snapping the blade before giving him a solid whack with his shield and the both of us kicking him away.

"Give up, Zemo." Cap demanded as he stepped closer to the fallen villain.

"Never." The purple menace panted heavily as he managed to push himself up, "This is my world, and you don't belong in it." Like hell it's his world.

"I may not know a lot about the future, but I know one thing about the past." Cap informed him in an almost patriotic tone, "You lost the war, and you'll always lose, whether I'm here or not." Zemo said nothing as he reached behind his back and produced a small gadget and tossed it. There was no mistaking those series of beeps!

"Bomb!" I yelled even as Cap rushed after it. The device landed in front of the still unconscious Wasp, but a sharp tug on my arm into one of the rooms stopped me from seeing if they were going to be ok. I felt the air rush out of my lungs and eyes shut instinctively as I was roughly tumbled over something, with an equally hard something pressed on top of me just as the device exploded, sending a rush of heat, noise, debris and fire down the hall, the aftershock rattling my body.

"Ah...ow." I heard myself groan, an uncomfortable something digging into my back.

"Are you all right, Rose?" My eyes snapped open to reveal that I was nose to nose with my hero in the black cat-suit. As much as I didn't want to admit it, but I could feel my entire face flush with heat, and I don't mean from the explosions. Pinned between the couch and his body, I could almost feel the hard planes of his chest pressing against mine, the tight ridges of his toned abdomen and thick thighs aligned perfectly with mine.

"'m good." I somehow squeaked nervously, really trying not to notice that my hands were flat against his broad chest, or that his arms were circled protectively around my head, and really trying not to notice that we were mere millimetres from kissing each other. Hoo, is it warm all of a sudden or was that just me?

Hearing Cap's and Wasp's voice gave me a temporary reprieve from the moment. "I'm ok; go help the others!" I told them. I didn't hear anything else, other than the inbuilt fire extinguishers going off, so they must have gone already. Leaving me alone with my hero. I'm actually kind of glad no one's here, because this would be a very awkward position. My hero must of had the same thought before lifting himself up, even if it was somewhat reluctant.

"Forgive me, but I did not want to see you harmed." He apologized, helping me to sit up beside him.

"Th-that's ok." I replied shyly, smiling a little bit. A silence came between us, apart from the mansion taking care of the fire in the hallway, before a gentle hand started brushing at my cheek, making me lift my gaze to my hero.

"Ash, from the explosion." He answered my questioning gaze, making me blush again.

"Thank you." I spoke softly. His mask twitched as he gave a smile underneath it, but then it was gone and he stood up rather abruptly.

"I should leave." He murmured almost apologetically.

"Ah, s-sure." I agreed awkwardly, nervously twisting my hands together as I stood up as well. He turned to leave when I impulsively grabbed his hand to stop him. "Wait, I-uh...I didn't get your name." I weakly pointed out. I knew it was a bad idea, but I really didn't want him to leave just yet. I didn't want someone who made me feel so safe disappear.

But it seemed to work for the moment, for he turned back around with a soft chuckle. "Very well." He mused out loud, his hand bringing mine against his chest, "I am the Black Panther." Wasn't exactly the name I was looking for, but at least I have something to call him by now.

"Well, thank you...Panther." I told him with shy gratitude. Another sudden impulse took over me, and I leaned up and forward on my toes to gently press my lips against his masked cheek, feeling the muscles in his chest tighten in response. Before I could debate whether it was a bad idea or not, a series of loud barks made me turn towards the hallway. I almost forgot: Voltaire. I turned back to Panther, but he was gone.

The next time we meet up, he so had to teach me to do that!

######

Ugh, my body hurts! After Panther mysteriously disappeared, I found Voltaire safely sheltered in another den, and other than a little tenderness on his side, he'd be ok. And the mansion defences put out the fire, and the self-repair technology kicked in, fixing up the rest of the damage. All that was left was to clean up the debris.

Shifting the beams and chunks of plaster was a bit difficult, even with Voltaire helping me (pretty strong dog; some of those beams weren't easy to push) but we managed to get everything into a pile, and got started on sweeping just as the others came back, all covered in exploded slime. After giving Tony a report on what happened, carefully skirting around certain parts, I decided to head home. I know I had a bed here, and a lavish apartment, but I just wanted a night in my old place.

One of Tony's personal drivers gave me a lift to my old apartment before I sent him on his way. Safely locked in my apartment, I let Voltaire sniff around the tiny place while I had a shower and changed into a large t-shirt and bike shorts.

Now that Captain America was alive and on the team, I guess he needed to catch up to the world, especially with Zemo and Zola still on the loose. Deciding to approach the subject to him tomorrow, I settled down on the couch and started making a list of important world events that happened after he was reported KIA, when someone pounded on my door. "Manager." I mumbled to myself, getting to my feet and headed to the door.

In hindsight, I should've paid more attention to Voltaire, who was growling a storm, and to the fact that the building manage wouldn't have seen me come in: Friday nights were poker nights at the bar. As it was, the second I unlocked the door, it was forced open and I hit the ground with a shriek and a sharp thud on the back of my head. I was aware of Voltaire leaping over me and lunging into the attacker, but there was a pained yelp and he hit the ground heavily, as hands reached down and grabbed me.

I did my best to fight them off, but between the exhaustion of fighting a super villain, cleaning up after an explosions and the many hands grabbing at me, I soon found my hands jerked behind my back and bound painfully tight, and my mouth gagged by tape before a hood was pulled over my head.

"Damn bitch! That beast of hers nearly bit my arm off!" I heard a voice complain as I was roughly hauled to my feet and forced to walk.

"Just shut up, will ya?!" A second voices hissed angrily, "we gotta get out of here before the cops show up! Or Iron Man, or one of the Avengers!" The rest of the conversation dropped, leaving me terrified out of my mind. I soon felt the night air brush against my legs, but the relief was fleeting when I was forced to step out barefoot, and thanks to Murphy's Law, I screeched in muffled pain as my left heel stood on something sharp, piercing the skin. The pain was enough to make me stumble to my knees, but the two thugs escorting me merely picked me up by my arms and carried me a short distance before I was unceremoniously tossed into something...that felt like a car trunk! And it wasn't all that empty either!

I couldn't say how long I was in there for, but a good half was a safe bet, what with all the sharp turns & sudden stops before the car screeched to a halt. I could hear the engine turn off before a pair of doors slammed. The air that started to get heavy disappeared as the trunk lid was opened and I was pulled out and frog marched somewhere. The cut in my heel wasn't helping, nor was their temper. A cacophony of sound briefly assaulted my ears before it quietened down a little. Eventually I was forced into a chair, a rope roughly tied around my chest and legs, and the hood pulled off my head.

When I could finally see again, I began to regret ever leaving the mansion. "Hey there, babe." The gang leader from Central Park sneered with sickening glee.

_:Oh, god.:_ I breathed weakly. I was doomed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Duh-duh-duuuuuh! Oh, I know you people hate cliff-hangers, but I couldn't resist! Anyway, keep an eye open for the next one soon: not right away, but soon enough. Ciao!


	5. Everything is Wonderful

Hello everyone! Ok, before I start the story, I'd like to point out that in previous chapters, I've written Quartermaine's name wrong and have since corrected it in this chapter. And I'll you all now, there's a swear word or two, if you don't like that stuff. And, for those with weak hearts, I warn that there is serious fluff-age in here. 'Fluff-age'? Ok, too drunk! Bye-bye now!

* * *

Everything Is Wonderful

The next time you open your front door, do yourself a favour and check through the peephole to see who it is. Those extra few seconds can mean the difference between a friend calling for a cup of tea, or a pair of thugs kidnapping you.

Unfortunately, I didn't bother to use that luxury, and now look where I am: tied to a chair, gagged, in a warehouse full of thugs that tried to accost me not four or five days ago, and with no friend in sight, and no clue if the security system that Tony installed even worked yet.

_:There _is _someone out there trying to kill me, isn't there?:_ I asked myself, trying to keep the urge to throw up from overriding my sanity, but if it wasn't the need to be sick, it was the need to start crying. Juggling the two urges was quickly becoming a skill of mine, but not for the best of reasons. It also didn't help that my foot burned like fire from when I stepped on something sharp.

"Any troubles?" The gang leader asked the two thugs responsible for getting me here, lazily looking at the pair.

"Not unless you count that monster of a dog she has." The one cradling his arm spat angrily, casting a venomous look my way, "Should've shot it, the miserable flea bag." Despite being tied up and in serious danger, I threw back my own glare at him; no body threatens my dog.

"What about witnesses?" The leader asked, not seeming to care if one of his men was injured.

"None, boss." The other thug replied, "we had that place cased for two weeks; we knew where everyone was going to be." Ok, when I miraculously get out of here, I am so becoming more conscious about my neighbours patterns!

"Excellent." The leader grinned, an eerie-yet-sinister replica of a Cheshire cat grin, "now we just gotta call the big man, and wait for him to show up." Big man? So, they're just the hired help? Great.

"What's with this guy, anyway?" The injured thug asked as the three of them moved to a nearby desk I hadn't noticed before, a laptop and a telephone resting inconspicuously.

"No idea, but he does." The leader shrugged, sitting behind the desk, "All I know is that he wants her, and the stuff we heisted ages ago."

"At least we get paid too, right boss?"the uninjured thug asked hopefully. Their boss just smiled in glee before motioning for them to leave. As they did, he picked up the phone and entered a number. Begrudgingly, I had to admit these guys knew what they were doing; putting me in a chair where I could see everything except important things like the number he was dialling or what was on that laptop.

The conversation was short, but obviously it went the way the gang leader wanted it to go, because when he hung up, the evil Cheshire grin was back on his face, and the urge to be sick was beginning to win me over, and my adrenalin-filled panic was reaching its peak as he stood up from the desk and slowly walked over to me.

"Well, babe, in two hours I'll be sticking rich, and that's just for getting you: with that stuff we swiped from SHIELD, I'll be richer than Tony Stark." Doubtful, but let idiots have their fantasies.

"Just a pity, though." He sighed, stepping into my personal space, bending slightly so that he was almost nose-to-nose with me, even when I leaned back as far as I could, "Pretty girl like you? I'm willing to bet I could make you scream."

It took exactly 2 seconds to figure out what he meant, and my dignity kicked itself into high-gear, demanding that I hurt him. Not exactly like I had a lot of limb movement to do that with; just my head and bound legs. Then again...his legs were far apart enough for me to...

_:Meh, what the hell?:_ I mentally shrugged before throwing my head forward and feeling my forehead hit his nose with a loud crunch, before springing my legs up and painfully catching him where it really hurts a man. The scream he gave out in response to his nose being broken, and his male dignity being badly bruised, gave me a small amount of smug satisfaction.

The thug from earlier rushed over, taking a moment to look at the both of us to figure out what happened before helping his boss to his feet, or at least standing upright. A few others came over to see what the commotion was about, some giving me glances of either anger or surprise.

Any sense of cockiness I had (not that I had much to begin with) was dashed when I heard an enraged snarl from beyond the barricade of thugs, before their leader pushed past them, his face contorted into the very definition of fury, and the sight of his nose dripping a steady flow of blood sent chills down my spine and my panic sky-rocketing. _:I should've paid more attention to Hawkeye about escapism.:_ I belatedly thought.

"Fucking bitch!" My wounded captor snarled, advancing on me with a furious stride. Before any of us (me or the thugs) could react, the boy raised the back of his hand and swung at my head. The force against the side of my face tipped me sideways, letting gravity take me down with a loud clatter. My eyes pricked with tears as my already abused arms, now pinned beneath the chair, screamed in protest, and the pain in my head didn't help things either.

A few of the thugs let out cries of panic; I even heard one saying that I was needed without a scratch, but their boss obviously didn't care now, and the panic finally gave way to hopelessness: let's face it, who knew where I was, or even that I was kidnapped?

The sound of glass breaking caught my attention and I prayed it didn't mean what I think it meant, then I heard the strangest sound: a sort of...vibrating noise, and the lights were struck, turning everything into darkness. Several voices of shock rose up, followed by the leader barking orders to get the lights fixed.

Then one of the screamed.

It was one of those primal screams of pure fear, that shocks everyone who heard it and made them go deathly quiet.

No one dared to breath, the air getting tense and frightening My heart, the poor over-worked muscle, was beating so painfully and loudly that I swear everyone else could hear it. From my position on the ground, and the barest amount of moonlight from the broken entrance, I could vaguely make out the shapes of the thug gang cautiously moving around, trying to locate the source of the scream. The tension and smell of sweat was starting to get too much, and all I wanted to do then was cry. _:Just end it, already.:_ I mentally begged as I shut my eyes tight, _:Just kill us.:_

After I begged that thought, there was an almost primal growl, full of anger, filling the air before whoever it was made their move. Refusing to open my eyes, I could only listen as the thugs began shouting in pain as the mysterious person attacked them. Someone shouted garbled words but a solid _thwack_ silenced them.

Then came a sound I never wanted to hear: the clacking of a gun being prepped for use.

I hunched into the floor as much as I could manage as the sound of a machine gun (or some sort of gun) roared to life. Over the noise, I faintly heard the grunt of pain, then another vibrating sound whooshed right over my body and into whoever held the gun. My ears rang loudly from the assault , preventing me from hearing anything, and I refused to open my eyes to the carnage that likely awaited, but I could feel the rope around my chest disappear, letting my lungs free of the constriction. Then, after I was pulled from the ground, whoever was handling me carefully slung me over their shoulder in a fireman's carry, just as groans and car engines in the distance started to sound.

My 'rescuer', clearly not fond of round 2, began running. They must be strong, to be able to carry me with little effort and still sprint. I inhaled sharply as I experienced the strangest feeling of us leaving the ground, before the equally strange sensation that we were _climbing_. _:Who the heck is this?!:_ I wondered, but did my best not to fidget, but trust me this wasn't fun.

After sometime whoever was carrying me came to a slow stop, before they knelt down, and I was carefully sat against some sort of brickwork. _:Please, don't hurt me. Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please!:_ I mentally begged as I tried to curl myself into a ball, but a pair of strong hands cupping my face stopped me.

"Please, Rose, open your eyes." A gentle and warm voice pleaded. Wait a dang m-_Panther?!_

My eyes flashed open at his voice, and sure enough, the Black Panther was kneeling before me. Small tears began to fall from my eyes, but I couldn't care less, now that I was safe. He gave an almost silent sigh of relief before he carefully peeled the gag from my lips. The sticky residue tasted awful at the tip of my tongue darted out to moisten my dry lips, eve as I almost choked on breathing in a lungful of air.

"Are you terribly hurt, my Rose?"Panther inquired as he reached behind me, the clawed tips slicing through the rope, slowly bringing my arms in front of me.

"Nothing that needs a hospital, no." I answered, trying my best not to suddenly squirm when my insides turned into jelly as Panther held my wrists, an angry red from where the rope rubbed them raw, and gently applied his thumbs to carefully rub some feeling back into my hands. The small amount of pain aside, the feeling of his fingers massaging my wrists felt wonderful, so much that I gave a soft sigh.

Pausing his ministrations, Panther's masked eyes locked with mine in what seemed like an eternity before taking his hands away from mine. My subconscious cried from the absence of his warm and strong fingers, but it quickly went quiet when the Panther reached under his chin, pulling the black material up and over his head, revealing an inhumanely handsome face, so perfect that I swear my heart stopped beating before it started to pound a powerful lambada.

By the light of the moon above us, I almost melted at the sight of Panther's dark skinned face, finely chiselled to match an African Adonis. His jet black hair was kept short, cut close to his skull, and two parts on either side of his temple. His lips were seductively full, and the sudden urge to feel them was quickly squashed down. What nearly broke my heart into thousands of pieces were his eyes; a beautiful deep golden brown, glowing almost cat-like in the partial darkness.

_:Uh...not that I'm against how bow-chick-a-wow-wow sexy your hero is, but if you plan on living long enough to see this guy's body, you're gonna need to breathe.:_ My subconscious suddenly prodded.

The sudden poke into reality was perfectly timed when a tender finger traces down my cheek, almost touching the corner of my lips, eliciting a soft gasp from myself. My traitorous fingers suddenly got a case of the fidgets and slid from his hands and along his arms, with just enough pressure to feel the muscles twitch, and I felt myself nearly melting as he exhaled softly, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against mine gently, like he enjoyed this as much as I did.

It wasn't till my fingers traced along his right shoulder that he flinched with a sharp grunt, breaking the spell around us, and when I pulled my fingers away, they came back red as blood.

"You're hurt." I spoke softly, "How-"

"One of your captors fired a machine gun in a frantic manner." He explained, leaning to his side before sitting down beside me, attempting to avoid putting any weight on his arm, "One of the bullets met its mark. It is a light graze; I shall be fine." The fact that he was even here because of me was heart-warmingly touching, but the fact that was hurt while rescuing me nearly broke my heart.

Blessing Alenka for teaching me basic medicine, I tugged at my right sleeve forcefully, ripping the material from my shirt. Panther gave me a curious look as I pulled the torn sleeve away from my arm and turned on my knees to face him, but he must have clued into what I was going to do and caught my wrist gently in his.

"Rose,-"

"You've saved me more times that anyone ever has, and I can't imagine how I can repay you for the kindness you've shown." I politely butted in, holding his gaze with mine, desperately trying to wordlessly convey my desire to help him, "But the most I can do right now is bandage your wound."

In his golden eyes, I could see the conflict, debating whether he should let me do this or not, before finally sighing softly.

"You do not need to repay my kindness." He replied, letting go of my wrist, "I freely give to others what they need." His answer made me glad that chivalry wasn't dead in the world yet.

"Then I freely give my medical knowledge." I teased, a small smile appearing on my face as I began to wrap his wound. When I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes, I saw that he had a small smile as well, even as he watched me treat his wound. The ends tied off securely, I went to sit back down, but I had quite forgotten that my legs were still bound together, so resulting in awkwardly landing in his lap. My face heated up brilliantly even as Panther gave a soft chuckle.

"Perhaps if I untied your legs?" He offered, one of his dark eyebrows lifting in a good humoured gesture. Not waiting for an answer, one hand crept behind my waist to support me even as his other hand reached below my knees and sliced through the rope.

"Thanks." I sighed gratefully, rubbing the sore spots carefully, "my brother would be-" Thanks to a little thing called reality, I suddenly remembered just what happened, and that Tony must've found out about the kidnapping by now, so a swift return was really needed. The mere thought of my brother being scared witless brought back my panic to the fore front. "Oh, man. I gotta get home! My brother must be terrified about me!"

Sensing that the moment turned urgent, Panther carefully helped me to my feet. When I put my left foot down I couldn't help but hiss in pain; I forgot I was injured there, too. Geez, I sucked with remembering my injuries, didn't I? As it was, the sudden painful reminder knocked my sense of balance enough for me to slump into Panther's arms...again.

"I gather that tonight is not the best night for us, correct?" Panther teased lightly, looking down at me as he held onto me. I could only manage a small squeak in reply, so closely pressed against his chest and stomach as I was. Panther's mouth twitched with a small smile as he helped me to lean against the brickwork behind me before kneeling down and gently holding up my left ankle, "What ails you?"

"A cut on my heel." I replied softly, tearing my other sleeve off, "I can't believe how clumsy I've become." Panther merely chuckled humorously before taking the makeshift bandage from my hands and, before I could stop him, had my heel wrapped. When he looked up at me with a boyishly cheeky smile, I felt my face heat up again with a shy smile, even as my subconscious squealed like a preppy teenage girl.

The moment was ruined when an almighty explosion rocked the earth. Panther was on his feet and pressing me against the wall with his body, shielding my head in his chest. My adrenalin and panic came hurtling back with such a force that brought a painful blow to my stomach. Taking the moment of silence to quickly look around, Panther re-donned his mask before gathering me in his arms and taking off at an almost blinding speed. The sensation of his running with such speed and effortless grace left me breathless, the air rushing against my skin in a prickling way.

Not long after, it began to rain with a thunderous crash.

Cold water pelted my skin with a bruising force, even as I curled my arms just that little tighter around Panther's shoulders as I buried my face into his neck. He didn't seem to mind, even tightening his own grip in response. Feeling that I was safe, I let my eyes drift shut and my mind turn blank.

Time seemed to stretch on forever before Panther finally stopped running, the motion waking me up from the brief rest.

"Where are we?" I softly asked as Panther carefully put me on my feet, holding onto me as I gathered my thoughts and bearings. Tilting my head to work out the kinks in my neck, my eyes spotted the high building walls on either side, and the sound of sirens rather close despite the rain.

"In the alley down the road from your apartment." My hero answered in a low tone, "There is quite a number of police officers, and other military people." My brain belatedly registered that if Tony was worried about me so much, he would've told SHIELD to help him find me.

"I guess I better go make my appearance." I mumbled softly, though the thought of walking from here to there didn't sound all that wonderful. As I turned to start leaving, I looked up at Panther with a sudden question on my mind, "Mind if I ask a question?" He made a small noise in his throat to say he was listening, even as he watched the entrance of the alley. "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"I...followed you from the mansion." He carefully replied, finally looking down at me, "After his attack failed, I was worried that Baron Zemo might have taken an interest in you, especially since you aided Captain America in fighting him." Seems like reasonable answer, though my mind was starting to turn mushy.

"Well, I'm glad you did." I softly commended him, "thank you." Leaning up on my toes to press a tender kiss to his masked cheek, I pulled myself from his warm and comforting embrace and slowly limped out of the alley. With the rain still pouring quite heavily, I had some measure of cover so that no one could see me coming out, and potentially finding Panther.

Folding my arms across my chest gave me some warmth but didn't stop my teeth from chattering painfully, or the emotions playing Russian roulette to see which I would show first. I was halfway home when a loud bark shattered my thoughts and made me look up.

Voltaire was running towards me, barking as loud as he could, alerting the police and SHIELD agents to my presence.

"Briar!" I heard several voices shout, and spotted Cap and Quartermaine as part of the small crowd running towards me. The roulette wheel stopped turning and landed between sobbing relief and sheer exhaustion. Nearly choking on my tears, I hobbled to Quartermaine (being the closest person) and slumped into his arms, letting my body shake freely as I cried into his shoulder.

His arms wrapped around my waist tightly, supporting me as my body finally ran out of stamina. The rain and people's voices soon started to turn into a garbled mesh of white noise, their images becoming blurry-like as I tried to fight off the need to pass out. I vaguely remembered being carried to a stretcher, and someone gently prodding around my head, but when I was laid down, my eyes closed and I was out like a light.

######

The next few days went by in a rush, people moving all over the place doing things, talking to each other and sometimes to me, but I felt incredibly numb to do anything except sit in the hospital bed and look like a lobotomized patient. Quartermaine did try asking about what happened, but so far I hadn't pulled myself out of my stupor enough to give any sort of answer.

A doctor or two also came in a few times to check up on either my head or my foot. The slice on my foot wasn't too bad: it had pierced the skin and drawn only a small amount of blood, so it looked and felt worse than it really was, needing only a bandage and anti-infection medicine. Same for the lump on my head from where I was backhanded, a bit of bruising and minimal swelling that an ice pack could take care of. Apart from those two injuries and the rope burns (a mild soothing balm could take care of that) there wasn't all that much wrong with me.

So why I wasn't talking to anyone was a worry to everyone.

Truthfully, I was just trying to process what exactly happened that night, and afterwards. I mean, it was terrifying to know that some crazy nutcase had his eyes on me, and that he had hired a street gang to kidnap me. Clearly, whoever this guy is, he was pretty desperate. And the 'stuff' they stole from SHIELD? What did they take, and what did it have to do with me?

"Briar?" I lifted my gaze from the foot of my bed to the door at the voice, seeing Cap standing there, dressed in his uniform and a leather jacket, his mask pulled back to reveal his blond hair. Standing beside him was Voltaire, a plastic bag hanging from his mouth. The sight brought a small tired smile to my face.

"Hi guys." I murmured softly, folding my legs underneath the blanket, "Come on in." Letting the mass of white fur in first, Cap followed after closing the door and took a seat in the plastic hospital chair.

"Iron Man asked that I stay with you till the doctors release you." Cap explained softly, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, "He and Agent Quartermaine are talking about a safe place for you to stay." 'Safe'? That was fast becoming a joke to me, but instead of saying anything, I just kept quiet, Cap following suit. The minutes stretched out as we sat their in our respective silence, though I'm sure for Cap it was becoming quite awkward.

"I'm sorry, Briar." His sentence startled me out of my thoughts and the silence of the room, "I should've known that this would happen."

"Uh..." Clearly, I wasn't on the same page as he was; because I seriously doubt that he knew about the street gang trying to accost me in Central Park.

"He'd do something like this, too." Cap carried on, looking more upset as he did, "Zemo is desperate for revenge against me, and won't care who he hurts to do it. And-" Cap's monologue was interrupted when I started to softly laugh. I didn't mean to, but when he thought that Zemo would target me, it brought back a memory of Panther.

"You know, you're the second person worried that Zemo would come after me." I told him, a smile on my face as I looked at him, "It wasn't Zemo: it was a street gang." The relief on Cap's face nearly made me laugh again.

"A street gang? What would they want with you, thought" Cap queried, "aside from being Tony's sister."

"And a potential global threat, if threatened myself." I pointed out, and explained that SHIELD had me under their eyes because of my computer skills, how much damage I'd be forced to create. The sheer amount of it seemed to stagger the poor Captain, so I decided to cut him a break. Which neatly brought up another thought, one that I knew everyone was eager to have answered: how did I get away from them?

I know that I shoulder tell the truth about Panther, and how he saved me twice (three times in you count the explosion in the mansion). But...after having so many people in my business for the last month or so, this was one things that I wanted to keep secret, only to myself. Then again, there was a chance that Tony would find out and have my head. Maybe some back-up wouldn't go amiss.

"Cap...can I tell you something, and not have it go back to Tony or anybody else?" I asked quietly, looking up at him. Curiosity and his sense of duty were battling each other behind his eyes, but finally his curiosity won out and he gave a small nod. Taking a deep breath, I finally told him about the night in Central Park, when I found Voltaire, where the same street gang tried to first kidnap me, and how the man in the black cat suit saved me (he didn't have to know Panther's name, I privately decided), and just two days ago saved me from the gang and brought me back to the apartment. All through the story, Cap stayed quiet with only the barest of facial movements betraying him. When I finally finished talking, he sat there in deep thought before speaking.

"I'd ask if you can trust him, but it seems like a moot question." He commented with the barest hint of a smile, then rested his hand on my knee, "All right, I'll keep your secret." My shoulders visibly sagged in relief and I gave him a grateful smile.

"But you should tell Tony." He added, giving me a serious look, "Maybe not now, but soon: I think he'd want to thank the man who saved his little sister." Begrudgingly, I had to agree with him.

"About that street gang, do you want me to tell Tony and Agent Quartermaine?" Cap asked me, "I'll leave your hero out, make something up instead?" With all the details I just gave him about those two nights, I only hoped he came up with something very convincing. With a pat on my knee, Cap left the room, left just me.

So it is understandable that I'd almost jump out of my skin when Voltaire jumped up onto the bed, scaring the bejeezus out of me. Once my attention was on him, Voltaire dropped the plastic bag he'd been carrying into my lap, laying down with his head facing me. Giving him a confused look, I pulled the bag closer to me, taking a look inside before pulling out whatever it was.

It was a bundle of grey material, wrapped around something kind of heavy, all tied with a sort of hand-made twine thread. Pulling the thread off and unwrapping the grey material, my eyes shot wide open when I realized the grey material was my sleeve, the one I used to bandage Panther's wound!

There was no trace of blood or grime: it was perfectly clean. The question of how he got it so clean was gone when I saw what was hidden in my sleeve; a wooden object half the size of my palm. Holding it up for a closer inspection, I felt my heat melt into a warm puddle at the hand carved wooden token, a perfectly etched image of a panther head, and when I turned it over, there was an inscription elegantly carved into the material, but in a language I didn't understand.

It didn't take a genius for me to know that Panther had sent this, and the fact he even did sent a warm thrill through my body.

Cap was right: I did have to tell Tony about the Black Panther...

...but maybe another day.

######

When I was given the all clear from the doctors and allowed to leave, Tony and Cap bundled me and Voltaire into a private car and headed off. "Quartermaine relayed what you told Cap to Fury, about the stuff those gang members mentioned grabbing." My older brother was telling me, his arm resting around my shoulders in a comforting gesture. Cap sat on my other side, watching the world go by from behind the tinted window, absentmindedly patting Voltaire's head as the great white dog sat at my feet, ears perked up and on the lookout.

"They haven't found anything out of the ordinary yet, but since SHIELD is a big thing, they probably haven't covered all systems yet." Tony continued, like I was paying attention to him the whole time, "Probably just stole some weapons, or even nothing." I gave a non-committed grunt, showing that I was paying him some attention, but not really bothering all that much. Whatever that gang stole most likely had nothing to do with me.

"Now...about your apartment." At this I finally perked up enough to pay full attention to my brother. "Fury, Quartermaine and I decided that the old place wasn't going to cut it, neither would the one I gave you." Tony informed before looking down at me, "so we came up with three options: the first one was let SHIELD take you in, give you full time protection, and possibly hide you from the world." As much as I liked a few of their people, but there was no way I'd put up with being separated from everyone I knew, no matter how little I interacted with them.

"Option two was let Alenka take you to another dimension and hide you there for a while." Again, no matter how interesting the world might be, I wasn't going to let Alenka do that, and I'm pretty sure that she'd say 'no' about the matter too. She had to be very careful about who she let into other dimensions, and where she took them to.

"And, finally, option number 3." Tony finished as the car came to a stop. When I looked up from my lap to see where we were, I felt myself get gobsmacked in relief.

"You're moving me to Avenger's Mansion?" I asked redundantly, even as Tony opened the door and handed me onto the pavement, himself, Cap and Voltaire following after.

"This way, not only will JARVIS keep you safe, but also let SHIELD and the rest of the Avengers know that you need back up." Tony explained as he guided the small party up the pathway and inside the mansion, "Plus, with Steve living here full time now, it'll be piece of mind that he's close on hand." Voltaire looked at my brother with a sharp indignant whine.

"OK, ok. Steve and Wonder Fluff." Tony amended sarcastically, rolling his eyes to emphasize his statement. Then again, when he heard what 'Wonder Fluff' did to one of the thugs that kidnapped me, and from what Wasp told me when she came to visit, Tony wouldn't stop hugging Voltaire for three whole hours, so I knew that he was just teasing my dog.

Tony rattled on about something or other as he lead us up the right hand staircase, and into the personal living areas. "When we agreed on Avenger's Mansion being your new home, I had a room rebuilt to suit your tastes." Tony explained as he led us down a hallway near the back, opened a door and let me inside.

My new room was huge, the sheer size of it making my jaw drop.

Upon entering the room, a large double bed rested against the wall opposite, its dark mahogany frame nicely contrasting the white cream walls and dark brown carpeted floor. On either side of the bed were two matching side tables, the same wood as the bed frame, with two lamps ready for use. To the right of the door, underneath the window, a red velvet-cushioned window seat, large enough for a nap is so desired.

Walking further into the room, I spied the large vanity desk on the left far wall, with room for any beauty products and jewellery I might acquire. Turning around I noticed another door, possibly leading to the bathroom, and the large white sheet covering something big. Further turning around, I saw the L-shaped desk fitted snugly against the wall, leaving enough room for the door to open fully. Along the other side was another dark mahogany piece, this one a four drawer dresser, and sitting neatly next to it was the wardrobe, which I suspected was larger than it appeared.

"So...whatcha think?" My thoughts and attention turned back to Tony, who waited patiently with Voltaire at the door, an almost expectant and hopeful look on his face.

"It's lovely, Tony." I assured him. _:Yeah, lovely for a high elite socialite.:_ I told myself; I was more used to simple things in my bedroom, not anything fancy. But given my other two living options, I'd simply have to make do. Who knows, it may not be so bad.

"Glad you like it." My brother smiled, sauntering into the room and examining it with barely concealed pride, "Plus you get a great view of the yard, the greenhouse, and sunrise from here." Then he turned to me, an unreadable look on his face. I gave him a puzzled look in return, to which he smiled and walked over to the sheet-covered mystery item.

"One last thing to get you settled in." Tony said before pulling away the sheet. What was underneath left me breathless, if only for a moment, before a wave of emotional tears threatened to overtake me.

"Mama's favourite mirror." I said in a soft voice. The antique full-length mirror: an heirloom passed down from mother to daughter, ever since Amelia Rosings; my greatest grandmother on Mama's side of the family. The simple wood frame of oak surrounded the mirror, with hand carved roses etched into the frame. When the mirror is passed down to the next generation, the previous one leaves their mark by having a rose engraved onto the frame, with their name written underneath; a tradition long since held.

"Mom wanted you to have it." Tony offered as I stepped up to the mirror, "It was even in her will, among other things." I opened my mouth to give a response, but a weak whimper was the only thing I could muster through my tears. Nevertheless, at the sound Tony had wrapped his arms around me in a firm, loving embrace. We said nothing to each other as we stood there, holding each other: Tony and I had a silent language when like this, and every wordless action came from the heart.

Unfortunately for Tony, he couldn't spend the whole day with me; there was a meeting he needed to attend to, and Ant Man was also at the office to help him fix a computer, or something, but he did promise to be home for dinner.

Then with one last hug, he was gone.

Sighing to myself, I gave me new room another glance. It was to my tastes, I didn't lie about that, and having Mama's heirloom made the room that much more cosy, I just felt...

...out of place.

Voltaire, having stayed quiet this whole time, padded over and gently nudged his head against my body, whimpering softly. The distraction was a small one, but a greatly appreciated one. Running my hand through his fur, feeling his rumbling breathing through my fingertips, it did a lot to take my mind off a few things, but not a whole lot.

One of the main things was that I needed to get used to was the mansion, and a WW2 super soldier slept halfway down the hallway from me, in case I was in trouble.

Another was that until the person desperate for me was caught, I was going to have a lot of people watching me, which wouldn't be a great deal of help to my nerves.

Sighing in minor annoyance, I sat down on my new bed, giving a surprised soft grunt when it sank a little further that I was used to. I guess Tony wanted me to be comfortable when I moved in. Well, at least I'd be warm, if the thick comforter was anything to go by.

Hearing Voltaire whine again, I looked at him as he sat in front of me, his blue eyes piercing right through me, sadness reflecting what he saw, his ears folded against his head.

"I guess a lot of things are different now." I softly spoke to him, folding my hands between my knees to stop them from trembling, "At least we'll do it together...right?" He gave another whine as his eyes perked up and his tail started to wag a little in a positive manner.

Knowing that my friend was going to stay with me, I decided that a nap was in order: spending a few nights in hospital was never comfortable, for the visitor or the patient, especially after a kidnapping. Kicking off my shoes and laying down on the comfortable bed, I rolled onto my side facing the window and the midday sun, lettings its warm rays lull me to sleep. The mattress lurched a little as Voltaire climbed up to join me, his head resting against my shins, keeping an eye on the door.

Feeling safe in my new home, I let my eyelids flutter shut on their own accord, the sounds of birds singing in the distance and the gentle wind drifting me further along to sleep.

######

A hand pressed against my shoulder, gently shaking me awake. "Briar." An equally gentle Southern accent spoke, further waking me up, "Hey, wake up, sleepy head."

"Mmrphm." I grunted quietly in protest, earning a chuckle from not one, but two people. Finally opening my eyes and lifting my head to see past my shoulder, I gave a tired smile when I saw Quartermaine carefully perched on the edge of my bed, Alenka standing over his shoulder.

"Hey, guys." I murmured as I sat up, a blanket falling from my shoulders as I moved. I didn't remember falling asleep with this on before, so who was in here?

"Cap said you were sleeping up here." Alenka's gentle voice pierced through my still groggy mind, "He is also the one who put the blanket over you." Of course it was Cap; he was a gentleman like that.

"Feeling better?" Quatermaine asked me, resting his arm around my shoulders as he drew me into a one-armed hug, "JARVIS said you've been sleeping for almost 3 hours, and by the state of your hair, I'd say you have budged a bit." Giving Alenka a curious look, I leaned forward to look past Quatermaine at my mirror, and squeaked in embarrassment when my hair resembled a one sided bird's nest. Seeing the mess almost brought tears to my eyes; clearly the nap didn't do any wonders for my emotional side.

"Oh, I look terrible!" I whined, burying my face into my hands. Quartermaine gave another chuckle as he pulled my hands away to press a friendly kiss to my forehead.

"I blame that hospital." He jokingly told me in an affronted tone, "They clearly don't know how to treat a person, if they let them leave looking like this." Alenka burst put giggling, her infectious laughter getting me to do the same not long afterwards. When we finally settled down, Alenka presented me with a folded towel, two bottles and a bar of soap resting on top.

"Figured you'd want a shower after you woke up." She explained as Quartermaine helped me out of bed and onto my feet. Taking the presented gift from her, I then let her slip her arm around my shoulders and guide me to my bathroom. Once I was inside and Alenka shut the door, giving me privacy while she and Quartermaine stayed in my room, I looked around.

It wasn't a terribly small room, just a bit larger than my old apartment. Contrast to the white walls of my bedroom, the bathroom walls were a soft yet dark red hue, giving the room a relaxing feel to it all. Immediately to my left was the sink set in a white bench, with a small cupboard underneath and four drawers on one side. The mirror above the sink was big, almost as wide as the bench, with a wooden frame, its surface carved with pictures of flowers, but the clever trick that impressed me was the flower buds were actually little fairy lights.

Beside the sink was a small room, my guess the toilet. Opposite the toilet and sink were the bathtub and shower cubicle The tub itself was a very large claw-footed thing, taking up almost two-thirds of the wall, its polished white surface reflecting the rooms light. At the end closest to the door, snugly fitted into the corner was the shower, its two enclosing walls made of glass. Inside I could see a ledge built into the wall, where I could put the bottle of shampoo and conditioner, and a small groove where the soap rested.

Aside from the glass walks, I found the room quite to my liking.

Putting the bottles and bar of soap into their places and hanging the towel over the edge of the bathtub, I wiggled out of all my clothes, dumping on the floor before stepping into the cubicle. Shutting the door behind me, I almost jumped in fright when it frosted over; of course, Tony knew that I hated glass walls in the bathroom, and gave me ones that frosted when closed, offering a better sense of privacy. Shaking my head at myself, I turned to faucets to a perfect temperature and enjoyed a warm shower, washing the accumulated grime from the last few days from my hair and body.

Shutting the water off when I was finished, I opened the door to grab my towel, and immediately noticed the large circular cream cotton rug in the centre of the white tiled floor. My clothes were also gone, instead a large wicker basket between the shower and the bedroom door. When I got out and wrapped the towel around my body, I spotted a white cup on the sink, a blue toothbrush inside.

Since I didn't hear the door open while I was washing, I gathered that Alenka 'popped' them in for me.

'_Present from the Centauri galaxy.'_ Alenka's thoughts interrupted mine, _'self cleaning rug, very soft too.'_ Her claim was well founded when I stepped on it; it almost felt like standing on a cloud.

Drying my body off and rubbing the excess moisture from my hair, I realized that I didn't bring in spare clothes to change into, and as much as I trusted Quartermaine, I wasn't going to walk out there in just a towel. A soft 'pop' noise directed my attention to the basin counter, where a pair of cotton pyjamas and undergarments were waiting. _:Alenka.:_ I smiled to myself before getting dressed.

When I exited my bathroom and back into my bedroom, I stopped dead when I saw Alenka folding a shirt and pacing it into a drawer, dozens of other clothe items folding themselves and flying into a drawer, or into the wardrobe to be hung. A large flat screen TV was attaching itself to the wall above my dresser, and various other knick knacks zooming and placing themselves around the room.

Voltaire was sitting beside Quartermaine, eyes darting everywhere to watch the floating objects, while his human male friend was sitting in front of a laptop, typing something away, and not paying any mind to the organized chaos going on behind him. Then again, he was probably used to Alenka's powers being used in odd ways.

I was busy watching a pair of dark red sheets tuck themselves on the bed, followed by a large burgundy-and-gold cover slipping over the comforter and onto the bed, and matching pillowcases sliding over the pillows when Alenka turned towards me. "Clay and I did some shopping for you earlier." She explained as she walked over to me, "We found a few things you'd might like."

"She found them; I just paid and carried them." Quatermaine corrected, still not looking from the computer, "I'm just grateful she didn't make me carry anything too feminine." Alenka rolled her eyes at his back before directing me to sit in front of the vanity desk, now sporting a few framed photographs of me and various friends. Once seated on the small stool, Alenka began running a comb through my hair, creating a small warm breeze to help dry my hair.

"Well, that's your computer set up; it's connected to Stark Industries and SHIELD, if you ever need it." Quartermaine announced as he turned from the laptop, "Also connected you to the computer down in your lab, so you can get to your movies and things from up here."

"Thanks." I replied, smiling when Alenka put down the comb, having finished brushing my hair straight, the ends flicking outwards slightly.

"No trouble: we enjoy moments like these." My female friends commented, placing her hands on my shoulders and gently squeezed them to emphasize her point, "hanging out with you is always an added pleasure."

"With all the super-villains out now, moments like now are going to be harder to come by." Quartermaine grumbled, not sounding all that pleased at the sudden work load he now faces at work. Well, if it meant hanging out so they could get a chance to relax, I'd be more than happy to call on them.

We spent the next hour or so talking about Alenka's trips throughout the galaxies and beyond, the worlds and people she's encountered and made friends with, when JARVIS announced that Tony was downstairs with the other Avengers, and that dinner was being served. Since nothing urgent was calling them away, Alenka and Quartermaine decided to join us, if only so I'd have someone else to talk to.

Besides, I think they were eager to finally meet Captain America after so long.

######

Voltaire happily snored loudly as he lay on the floor beside my bed, his belly full of a delicious dinner courtesy of Mr. Foxworthy; one of Tony's most trusted butler/chef, and old family friend. A feast of roasted beef, steamed vegetables and side salads, plus chocolate mousse for dessert; there was no doubt that everyone was going to sleep well tonight. Well, mostly everyone.

Pulling my knees up as I leaned against the headboard, I reflected on how dinner progressed. When Cap was introduced to Alenka, the shock on his face after discovering she was half German made some of us chuckle, but when everyone else found out that she was a mutant, Tony laughed even harder. After that, questions went flying over the table in between pauses to eat the meal.

Alenka, never having a harsh bone in her body, happily chatted with Steve about how Germany and America became friendly to each other, and the influences they made with each other and the other countries at war with everyone at the time. She did her best to include me into the conversation, as did Quartermaine when he spoke to Tony and the other Avengers, but more often than they'd like I remained quiet throughout the meal. I wasn't being rude or anything, I just had so many thoughts going through my mind.

When I bid the other goodnight and retreated to my room, my body put itself in autopilot mode, letting me continue my thoughts even as I brushed my teeth and climbed into bed. Even though Voltaire was out like a light on the floor, I had no such luck, and ended up sitting my bed in the dark.

Most of my thoughts were about the kidnapping, the men in the warehouse, who organized, the explosion, and various other things, but mostly my thoughts were centered on Panther: was he ok? I know he said it was just a graze, but still, I couldn't help but worry about him.

_:And, of course, that gift he gave me.:_ I thought to myself, reaching over to my side table and opened the drawer. After I had gotten it, I had hidden it in my pocket when taken from the hospital and brought here. Not even Cap knew that I had this; I know I should at least tell him, bit after having people in my business trying to keep my safe, I just wanted to keep one secret to myself, and not have to share it with anyone, almost like a guilty pleasure.

My focus was so intense on the wooden panther head, that I almost missed the silhouette appear on my comforter. Quickly looking up, I felt my face split into a smile when I saw the familiar secret hero at my window, looking back at me. Quietly slipping out from my bed, I knelt on the window seat as I unlatched the windows and pushed them open.

"You know, you may want to be careful about all these sudden appearances." I softly teased him as I leaned against the raised window sill, watching as he settled on the ledge in front of the window, his leg casually hanging over the edge.

"Why, does my appearance make you uneasy?" he teased back, but I could hear that he was slightly serious in his asking.

"No, but I may start convincing myself that you've becoming my super-hero stalker." I answered, feeling the warm tingle in my spine that his warm chuckle always brought on. Even with his mask on, I could feel his golden brown eyes on me, so much that I had to look away with a coy smile on my face as it heated up.

"How's your arm?" I asked, trying desperately to keep my mind from focusing on just how magnificent he looked, lounging as he did in the moonlight.

"It will heal." He answered, lowering his head just a little as he seemed to look at the area then back at me, "The wound was not as terrible as it appeared to be, but I thank you for using your sleeve to bandage it." Again, I looked away as my face heated up brightly.

"You're welcome." I replied quietly, then shyly looked up at him, "And thank you for the gift."

"It meets your approval, I take it?" Panther asked, almost sounding hopeful, which made me giggle slightly.

"Yes; it's very beautiful." I assured him, holding up the wooden token to show him, "but I don't understand why you would give it to me, or what's written on the back." He paused for a second, and I quickly realized that what I said could be taken negatively. "N-not that I'm ungrateful!" I quickly stammered, "I love it, b-but I don't think I deserve something so beautiful, and-" I was stopped when Panther was crouched in front of me, his fingers gently pressed against my lips to silence me.

"My Rose." Panther sighed, almost laughing at my stuttering speech, before he slid from the window and seat behind me on the window seat, his warm body curled around mine as one hand crept around my waist, spreading warmth throughout my body, his other hand taking the panther head from my grasp. Effectively surrounded by him, I felt my cheeks burn as other parts reacted differently, which took a lot of effort to concentrate on what Panther was telling me.

"This is a talisman of my ancestors." He spoke the words whispering their way into my ear, "it is to protect the one who wears it; what is inscribed on the back is an incantation to further protect the wearer." Then, in a move many would call scandalous, pressed the talisman flat against the area above my chest, his hand covering the wooden object and touching my chest. I quietly gulped back an gasp, instead tilting my head against his shoulder to look up at him, and ignored the squeal my subconscious gave when Panther turned his face to mine, our lips only an inch away each others.

"It will protect you from harm, my Rose." His voice whispered, thick with an emotion I couldn't hear, even as it reverberated deep to my heart.

"Thank you." I finally whispered back, my hands covering his against my chest, "for everything." He merely hummed softly in reply, his gaze never leaving mine. My mouth parted in a tiny gasp as his fingers slid from underneath mine, along my neck and jaw line. His tentative traced along the bottom of my chin, yet scorching a pleasurable feeling deep into my body and soul. My eyes fluttered shut by themselves as the arm around my waist tightened its grip ever so slightly.

Never before had I felt the urge to kiss a man's lips, but the way Panther was making me feel with a mere touch was enough to make me want to start kissing him. Then a cold chill of reality dripped down my spine, making me tense in his arms. Bad idea, Briar! My eyelids fluttered open to look at him.

"Um...I...we..." I breathlessly tried to speak, but my poor over-heated brain wasn't letting me pull it from its puddle of gooey mess that Panther turned it into, but said man seem to sense what I was trying to say.

"I...should...let you rest." He spoke for me, sounding equally as breathlessly as I did. I managed a shaky nod, but I gasped softly as I was suddenly lifted into the air, curling my arms around Panther's neck as he carried me from the window seat and over to my bed. I could barely pay attention or pull my gaze away from his, even as he slid one arm away to pull the comforter and sheet back and carefully laid me down, his hands carefully lowering my head onto the pillow.

"Sleep well, my Rose." Panther breathed softly as he pulled sheet and comforter over my body and up to my chin.

"You too." I replied, reaching my hand up and cupping his cheek, "and thank you for the talisman." He merely hummed as he leaned into my hand, before lowering his head and pressed a masked kiss against my forehead. My eyes were closed for barely a few seconds, but when I opened them again, he was predictably gone. Smiling to myself, I snuggled into my blankets and let sleep finally claim me and send me to dreamland.

* * *

See, I told you! Serious fluff-age! Well, I'll let you guys enjoy this chapter while I work on the next one. Adios!


	6. Interlude 1

Hello, everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for a while: this chapter was really testing my creative thinking. Ok, as the title says, this is an interlude, or lull between major chapters, and also to help establish certain events or emotions and the like.

Anyway, guys, enjoy and please don't kill me for the ending.

* * *

Interlude I

In the aftermath of kidnappings (at least by movie standards), the victim is shown to be doing something constructive, and not appear all that bothered by the fact they were at the mercy of a potential murderer, or worse. The films always focused on how strong-willed someone could be in the face of such trauma.

Unfortunately, my life was far from being part of any movie or TV series or whatever: meaning I cried a lot.

The morning after I came back from the hospital and woke up in Avenger's mansion (and in a super comfy bed, I may add), I was confused as _Alice in Wonderland_ before everything came back, which left me in tears. Voltaire, bless his soul, climbed onto my bed and into my arms, not moving an inch even as I blubbered into his neck and most likely covered him in snot. When I finally cried myself out, Voltaire licked my face of any tears before letting me get up for the day.

My second breakdown happened in the kitchen, when Tony joined Cap, Thor, Voltaire and I for breakfast, which consisted of homemade waffles with fresh cream and strawberries. I don't know what set that breakdown off, but Tony was quick enough to grab in a bear hug and babble nonsensical words till I was laughing through my tears. Cap and Thor seemed to enjoy Tony acting silly to cheer me up, and soon I was almost on the floor laughing till my stomach hurt as the three of them ribbed each other good naturedly.

When Thor left to do his own thing, and Cap went down to use the training room, Tony steered me outside to the greenhouse for a private tour. The giant glass building in the backyard sat innocently enough, but when Tony escorted me and my furry companion inside, my jaw dropped from the sheer magnificence and beauty that lay within.

Immediately at our feet lay a dark brown wooden path heading towards the left of the green house, winding its way between a large patch of daffodils and a row of cherry blossom tree. Following the path, I soon spotted two other patches of flowers: peonies in brilliant various shades of pink, and tulips ranging from yellow, orange, red purple and blue, which delivered us neatly to a large wooden floored area, a white wrought iron table with four matching seats waiting for people to use. Beyond the table and chair, I could see a large pond, with beautiful white lilies spread through the water. When I saw what was behind the pond and against the two corners took my breath away: Fire Lily trees.

Alenka, in some of her many travels to other worlds, would often come home with seeds in her possession, and allow the closest of her friends to grow them. These particular seeds that Tony had growing were amazing; the branches extended along the glass wall to meet with each other in the centre, and along said branches were deep emerald green leaves, with lilies that resembled a burning flame: hence the name 'fire lily' tree. In the flower bed opposite the daffodils were red and orange Peruvian lilies, which elegantly contrasted the light and dark purple colours nemesia, and the Sweet William Dwarf patch next to it.

Between the Sweet William Dwarf and the tulips was another dark brown wooden path, and as Tony led us down that path, we came across a pavilion. The wood used to create it was a dark red colour, artistically matching the two red lounge chairs, and the ring of red cushions seats ringing the edge of the pavilion walls. While one side offered a wonderful view of the pond and wooden floored area, the opposite side and between the glass wall and pavilion wall were a row of Weeping Golden Willows, their golden leaved branches touching the grass below.

When I commented to Tony about how beautiful everything was, he gave me that typical boyish smirk of his; the one that said 'there's more.'

At the foot of the pavilion stairs, between the Weeping Golden Willow and a type of cherry blossom tree, there was a large patch of grass, forming a path onwards, which Tony led us down. I figured this was the greenhouse caretakers, and all their implements were stored back here, but no: behind the golden willow trees was a patch of pansies and violas mixed together, the different colours complimenting the other nicely.

Soon the grass path turned into another wooden path, passing underneath an archway of two other rows and cherry blossom trees, there lay a sight that not only took my breath away but almost knocked my legs out from underneath me.

A large boab tree stood against the corner of the back wall, its green leaved-branches reaching towards the top of the green house roof. Around its base was a long rose bed, with many coloured buds greeting my eyes. Walking past the large tree, I saw another rose bed opposite the tree, and further along the bed closest to the wall turned into white sweet alyssum flowers. On the corner wall was a large hedge of some sort of climbing plant, giving a screen of privacy, while the cherry trees shielded the two hidden paths from sight. As Tony led Voltaire and I down the second hidden path, the blue bells and different coloured lisianthus flowers greeting my eyes, my brother informed me that this area of the greenhouse was for me alone; a place to go when I couldn't find a private place in the mansion.

That fact, coupled with the rest of the greenhouse gardens, was enough to make me want to cry again. Thankfully, it wasn't as much as my last two outbursts: just a few tears this time. When I had finished wiping them away, Tony led us back to the pond area and sat me down just as Mr. Foxworthy arrived with a tray carrying a plate of sandwiches and a tea set.

As we snacked on the delicious cucumber sandwiches and drank the Earl Grey flavored tea, Tony filled me in about the rest of his schedule for the day, what we'd might do for dinner later on, and what Thor and Cap might like to eat. Speaking I Cap, I gently (or timidly) broached the subject of teaching him with he's missed out on for the last few decades or so. Tony was quite for a few moments, munching on his sandwich, clearly thinking the idea over in his mind. Finally, he agreed that the idea was a god one, but I may want to talk to Cap about personally, and if he agrees, go slowly. Since Cap had been frozen for nearly 70 odd years, it may be a good idea to take it easy on the poor man.

The rest of the conversation was about what Cap would need to catch up on, and eventually we decided that we'd go a year at a time, going over the major events of the world, while also going over music, literature and culture, too. Tony also suggested that I could be the one to teach Cap, seeing as getting a tutor may be a bit much for him, and having a friend teach him would make the lessons go along more smoothly. Privately thinking that Cap was helping me keep Panther a secret, I agreed that this was the least I could do for my new friend.

Of course, having just thought about said mysterious super-hero, our conversation got really awkward when Tony gently brought up my kidnapping ordeal. It wasn't the kidnapping itself he wanted to discuss, and what those creeps did to me in that warehouse, bur more like he wanted to talk about how I got out of it.

"I mean, I know Steve said you couldn't quite remember, but this is me you're talking to, Rose." He said with a gently smile, the glint in his eyes reflecting that he knew I was hiding something, and some part of me resented that I could be read so easily, but the logical part of me knew that it was time to cough up Panther...slightly.

So I gave Tony a glossed over recount of that night, saying how the man in the black cat suit had rescued me and got me back to the apartment. What I left out were the facts that I knew his name (or superhero name, at least), what he looked like under the mask, and that it wasn't the first time we had crossed paths.

_:Not to mention this mysterious guy is a total stud muffin with a voice made of the purest honey, and that you get all gooey-legged whenever he brushes that wonderful fingers against your cheek, or that said stud muffin gave you an obviously personal gift.:_ My subconscious slyly purred. I was just grateful that I wasn't drinking, otherwise Tony would be covered in hot tea by now; instead I hid an intense red blush behind my tea cup, thankful that my brother didn't notice.

In fact, he seemed more interested in this 'man in the cat suit', and how he was involved with not only rescuing me from the kidnappers, but saving Cap and I from Baron Zemo.

Something told me that this was going to end really awkwardly for all involved.

######

Thankfully, Tony didn't linger too long on finding out who Panther was, mostly thanks to the point that he was tied to the kidnapping thing, so instead of making me think about the ordeal (and letting my subconscious tease me about Panther's hotness), he steered the conversation to something a bit more pleasant, but that was when his cell-phone went off. Judging by the look on his face, it was either the office or Fury for some obscure reason. Either way, my family time with Tony just got cut.

Begrudgingly, he left with a promise to be back in time for dinner and with my favourite, which left me and Voltaire with a free afternoon. Technically, I could go back inside and hit the training room, but then Cap would point out that the doctors said to stay off my feet for a while, and do 'light' chores. I could also go play Arkham Asylum, but it was a nice sunny day and it was very pretty here in the greenhouse.

As if sensing the encroaching boredom, Mr. Foxworthy reappeared with a smile and more tea, setting himself into Tony's vacated seat and began making conversation with me.

Mr. Foxworthy may be the family butler, having been one to our mother and father, but for Tony and I, he was the closest thing to living family we have, and proud to have the privilege of having. A perfect gentleman with greying white hair, contrasting his dark skin, Mr. Foxworthy was never one to complain about his job, though some of Tony's odd habits did get him a taste of our butler's infamous biting wit. But for me, he was one of my closest friends and confidant, besides Alenka, Clay and Hawkeye. During my high school years, he helped (vaguely) with my homework, and gave me the confidence when a day had been really hard on me.

And then came my university years.

Now, going to university wasn't all that bad...except that I was the youngest in the campus at the tender age of 13, I was England and attending Oxford: one of the most prestigious universities ever. Yeah, no pressure at all(!)

But I was ever grateful: contrast to my high school class mates, my university peers gladly welcomed me to the campus, offered help when I needed it, and the teachers were equally nice. True, there was that incident when I was 15 that occurred in America, the one that rattled my confidence, but thankfully my studies at Oxford kept my mind from going too far negative, and Mr. Foxworthy was an ever bigger blessing. Since he couldn't let me live in England alone for my classes, Tony had sent the family butler along with me.

So after that incident happened, and the one that happened a month before the super-villain breakout that _really_ broke my nerves, Mr. Foxworthy became my rock, something I never forgot and always thanked him for.

######

_:I can't feel my stomach.:_ I thought to myself, smiling when Voltaire whined in content from his spot of the floor. Dinner tonight was, as Tony promised, beef stroganoff, with pasta and a creamy sauce on the side: my favourite. And if that didn't make me full, then the chocolate mousse for dessert most certainly did.

Voltaire didn't get left out; the chef had prepared a meal of a T-bone steak and steamed vegetables with gravy. Of course, Tony made a complaint about letting good meat go to the dog, but Thor came to the defense about Voltaire being a large beast and needing a deal more food than a normal beast. Needless to say, Tony lost that argument fairly quickly, especially when Cap added that since Voltaire was my unofficial guard dog, he'd need a good meal to keep his strength up.

After the meal, we moved to the theatre-lounge for a movie: an old black and white movie close to the 40's, so that Cap wouldn't feel awkward during a modern movie. To be honest, though, it was a pretty good film. When the movie was finished, Cap seemed to be in better spirits than earlier; and asked if there were more movies like this. Tony took the reins on this giving me the chance to sneak out and head to me room.

Once changed into my pyjamas and brushed my teeth, I snuggled into my bed with a good book and soft music playing from my laptop, with Voltaire happy to sleep on the floor beside my bed; if the snoring was anything to go by.

As the night went on, I could feel my eyelids growing heavy, and with the help of the slow jazz playing, I was quickly out like a light.

But had I known what was waiting for me in the dream world, I wouldn't have closed my eyes.

######

I was in pain. Serious pain. What I felt when kidnapped was nothing compared to this; my shoulder felt as if someone had taken a blow torch to the socket, I struggled to breathe properly through a heavily bruised ribcage, my face stung with a hundred needles, and my stomach begged to be shot out of its misery.

All in all, I knew exactly where I was, and I was beyond desperate to get away from what was coming next.

Forcing my eyes open, I gave a pained whimper when I saw my surroundings: a dilapidated room, its wooden floor rough and abrasive on my skin. Holes in the crumbling walls let the harsh cold wind inside the room, not once giving me a sense of warmth or comfort but sheer, utter terror that was almost paralysing.

_:Time to move, time to move.:_ I chanted to myself, desperately trying to move my arms, but all my efforts brought on more pained whimpers as my shoulder screamed, my stomach and ribs not faring any better. If I could make it to the door, I could escape.

CREAK!

...Oh, crap.

I tried to brace myself as much as I could, but nothing could've really prepared me for the titanic force of being forced onto my back and having a foot stomp into my stomach. Crying out in pain, almost choking on my own blood and begging for the man hurting me to stop, the survival instinct in me started fighting back, my good arm shielding myself from further attacks.

My attacker didn't like my attempts to escape his torturous greed, and forced my hands above my head, aggravating my wounds to the point I almost screamed, but a firm hand over my mouth blocked the sound from coming out and a large male body pinned mine down, but strangely being gentle about holding me down.

"Rose! ROSE!" Hearing a male voice, one that I wasn't expecting to hear, my eyes shot open, and the run down room, with its cold wind and my injuries disappeared upon meeting Panther's warm golden brown gaze, looking at me in worry and concern.

For the umpteenth time this day, I broke into tears, not loud enough to draw attention from anyone walking past my room and causing them to barge in.

Seeing that I wasn't trapped in my nightmare any longer, Panther released his hand from pinning mine above my head and mouth, curling his arms around my body and pulled me into a warm embrace. Automatically, I buried my face into his chest as my arms curled around his waist, letting his warmth seep into my chilled body, further pulling from the terrible dream.

Now that I was free from the nightmare, I felt my sobs ease themselves into small sniffles. When Panther began to run his fingers through my hair, gently massaging the skin beneath, it further soothed my sniffles into silence, and making my body limp.

"Why is it that you're always there when I need you most?" I weakly whispered as I turned my head to press my cheek against his chest, his heartbeat echoing in my ear. His chest rumbled pleasantly as he chuckled above my head, pulling me further against his body as he rolled onto his back, his hand moving from behind my head to rubbing down my spine and up to my neck, repeating the action at a leisured pace.

"I confess I do not have an answer to that riddle." He murmured softly, "but it is a good thing that I am, is it not?" Rather than satisfy him with an answer, I just let his hand rub a soothing pattern along my spine, the typical reaction being my brain (and subconscious) turning into a puddle of relaxed goop.

_:Ugh, if this is heaven, don't wake me up.:_ my subconscious moaned blissfully, making me giggle out loud. Unfortunately, that wasn't a smart move on my part, because that just gave Panther the incentive to run his fingers against my sides: my most ticklish spots. Trying to keep my giggling quiet, I squirmed and twisted my body to get away from his prodding fingers, but he easily rolled us both over so that I was pinned beneath his body and he was able to continue his childish attacks.

Eventually, Panther took pity on my and stopped, curling his arms around my waist and pulling me close against him as he lay on his side. "You have the most intriguing laugh, my Rose." He teased, almost sleepily, his chin resting on top of my head.

"I will get you back, Panther." I threatened weakly, the wide smile on my face belying how serious I was trying to be. He merely chuckled again, his chest rumbling with its echo, before the air around us became comfortably quiet, even with Voltaire snoring so loudly from the floor.

After a while, my hands began moving up and down his back, mimicking the kind gesture he gave to me earlier. Underneath my fingers, I could feel his muscles briefly tense before relaxing, drawing a content purr from Panther. He actually purrs? Weeks ago, I might've found that very strange, as well as him dressing as a big cat, but it doesn't bother me now especially since he was one of my shining lights whenever my little world became too dark, Voltaire and Tony helping when the others weren't around.

I felt Panther's hand curl behind my shoulders and waist, cradling me against his body, before he began to softly sing a tune into my ear, the song unfamiliar, but incredibly soothing. Closing my eyes, images began filling my mind, taking me to a place far away from here, where the land was large under a bright sun, and the mountains reached the sky and turned to snow, the water a brilliant blue, and the jungles a deep emerald green. I could smell the different perfumes from the vast variety of flowers around me, the rain on the leaves from a recent storm. On the wind, I could hear the roar or a mighty creature; the power behind its voice sending a deep shiver down my spine.

That night, Panther gave me the best dream I could have ever asked from anyone.

He gave me the dream of Africa, and the strength not to be afraid of the night.

When the morning came, Panther was gone, but the song he had whispered into my ear made up for the absence. Sighing to myself as I linked my fingers beneath my had, I relaxed into my bed as I stared at the ceiling, losing myself in deep thoughts.

Whether he knew it or not, but Panther showing up when he does always became the highlight of my day (or night), a time where I didn't have to be afraid anymore, or worry about my appearance or how I conduct myself in public. He just let me be myself. Whenever he held me in his arms, he was so gentle and careful, as if I was made of fragile glass, his voice matching his grip when he spoke to me. And his way of making me feel not only safe, but the happiest I had ever been in my life.

_:You're also forgetting how hot this guy is underneath the mask.:_ My subconscious trilled in a sing-song voice, _:Which, may I add, speaks of how much he already trusts you. At least enough to see his face.:_

Yeah...that, too...

_:Uh-oh. What are you thinking, is it good or bad, and what did I say to set it off?:_

Actually, it's more like I just had an epiphany.

_:And...? Seriously, you're scaring me here, and I'm part of your mind:_

Just thinking about what Pepper said a few weeks ago; about me meeting a guy who'd rather cut off his arm than even think about hurting me.

_:Yuh-huh...?:_

I'm starting to believe that Panther may be the guy Pepper was talking about. How gentle he was, how he never raised his voice in anger at me, and how courageous he was in not only facing the gang of kidnappers, but also facing a gun-man all just to rescue me.

_:...Oh, my jeebus. Deep internal thoughts about a mysterious-yet-seriously-hunky super-hero, the glowing smile on your face, and the wistful sigh? Can it mean?!:_

I think I have a crush on Panther.

_:...YES!:_

* * *

How easily thrilled, her subconscious is. Though, it may not be like that come Panther's Quest.

Now, I have a question for everyone and it's kind of serious. As you are aware, I decided a while to rewrite my Alenka and Wolverine story. But in order to do that, I need a timeline, so this is where you guys come in.

Would you like that series set in the same universe as my Briar and Panther story, if so, before or after? If not, an alternative timeline. Your choice, but I would like the answer before December, please.

Anyway, thank you for your time, and I shall see you all next chapter. Bye!


End file.
